Swamplot Archives by Tag:
Attractions

Friday, April 25, 2008

More Evidence Parking Lots Are the New Main Street

April 25, 2008 – 11:47 am

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Are you an architectural renderer struggling to bring life to yet another vast Houston shopping-center parking lot in the drawings developers have commissioned you to create? This video should bring you inspiration! Go ahead and draw in that parade — that street festival — that touching moment of parking-lot excitement. You won’t be faking anything!

Today’s baton-twirling parking-lot-parade marshal was photographed by Jason of the Around Town Houston blog — as he waited in the drive-thru at Burger King on Westheimer, just east of Highway 6, just around the corner from the West Oaks Mall.

Practice makes perfect!

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11:47 am | Comment | Read more about Attractions, Neighborhoods: Alief, Parking, Streets
Friday, March 14, 2008

The Beer Can House Speaks

March 14, 2008 – 11:01 am

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What the house sounds like.

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11:01 am | Comment | Read more about Art, Attractions, Historic Preservation, Home Decor, Neighborhoods: Rice Military
Monday, March 10, 2008

New Hermann Park Train Does Not Kick Ass, Apparently

March 10, 2008 – 9:28 am

New Hermann Park Train

The Hermann Park kiddie trains are running again! But blogger Lou Minatti considers the replacement C.P. Huntington too “plasticy”:

A news photographer was there and we chatted for a bit. According to his sources, the old train was replaced due to three reasons: The old 50’s-era train had no dead man’s switch, it wasn’t wheelchair-accessible, and our collective asses are bigger than they were in the 1950s. Hence the need for the much wider train.

Photo: Lou Minatti

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9:28 am | 3 Comments | Read more about Attractions, Neighborhoods: Hermann Park, Parks, Transportation
Thursday, January 24, 2008

At Last! A Stable Future for the Astrodome

January 24, 2008 – 7:39 pm

Stalls at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo

For four years, the fate of the Astrodome has been chained to the proposals of a single company. Those proposals at first went in all sorts of different directions but lately have seemed to be going nowhere. And now, finally, the stewards of the Astrodome’s future have declared that Astrodome Redevelopment’s exclusive right to redevelop the Houston landmark will be coming to an end.

That’s great news, because all that exclusivity and secrecy and incompetence has overshadowed one of the best ideas ever suggested for reusing the Dome — which today can finally be revealed: Let’s turn the Astrodome into . . . horse stables!

Astroturf and tiered stadium seats would give way to more than 1,000 horse stalls and an arena with a capacity of at least 6,000. The vast open area where former Astros stars Jimmy Wynn and Jeff Bagwell hit towering drives would be turned into a three-story exhibition and stalling space, Shafer said.

Isn’t doing time as a livestock storage center the hallmark of a historically significant building? And it will make the next renovation so much more dramatic: “Can you believe it? Before they restored it, they used this thing for horse stables!”

After the jump, some reasons why this plan might have legs.

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7:39 pm | Read more about Attractions, Development Strategy, Historic Preservation, Neighborhoods: Reliant Park, Proposed Developments, Public Buildings
Monday, January 21, 2008

The Downtown Boom: Reader Photos and Videos from the Montagu Hotel Implosion

January 21, 2008 – 10:21 am

Implosion of the Montagu Hotel, Downtown Houston

Updated with more videos below.

If you didn’t hear about the implosion of that 11-story building Downtown last weekend until after it happened, you weren’t the only one. It’s just that battle-scarred Cherry Demolition was a little gun-shy about publicizing another hotel demo in advance. Fewer spectators means less chance a blurry video or two will turn the company from rubble removers to crime-scene investigators.

Fortunately for readers, nobody informed Swamplot about the media blackout. After the jump, reports, photos, and videos of Sunday’s big bang!

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10:21 am | Read more about Attractions, Demolitions, Hotels, Neighborhoods: Downtown
Thursday, January 17, 2008

Downtown Demo Party: Montagu Hotel Implosion This Weekend

January 17, 2008 – 8:34 am

The Former Hotel Montagu, Downtown Houston

Update: Photos and videos of the implosion are here.

Another Houston hotel implosion? So soon?

This one will be downtown, and everyone’s hoping it doesn’t make national news. But that doesn’t mean this weekend’s big bang won’t be another early-morning citywide block party. And so much to talk about since the last one!

Cherry Demolition crews have been chipping away at buildings on the block bounded by Main, Fannin, Rusk, and Walker since October, to make room for a 46-story pipe wrench. And everything is set for Dykon’s implosion of the 11-story Montagu Hotel (originally the Hotel Cotton, built in 1913) at the corner of Main and Rusk at 7 a.m. on Sunday, January 20th.

Streets will be shut down at least a block in each direction. But with the Crowne Plaza final-mystery-guest hullabaloo fresh in everyone’s memory, maybe this time there won’t be so much jockeying for the same “best” camera and video angles. Everyone spread out in a big circle, and send us your unique photos and videos. First person to spot anything fishy on the scene wins a special report on Inside Edition!

Photo of Hotel Montagu: Jeremey Barrett

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8:34 am | Read more about Attractions, Demolitions, Hotels, Neighborhoods: Downtown
Thursday, November 15, 2007

CSI YouTube: The Sliding Door, the Elusive Shadow, the Last-Minute Runner, and Other Clues from the Crowne Plaza Demo

November 15, 2007 – 12:42 pm

Sliding Door Closeup from Crowne Plaza Hotel Demolition, Texas Medical Center, Houston

So professional and amateur detectives have huddled over the Crowne Plaza demolition videos and what have they come up with? Here are the rumors . . . er, clues!

First, mysterious Flickr member txrice123 writes:

the police are investigating a report that there may have been someone inside the structure on the fifth floor in the middle. a video taken from the face of your side (from St. Luke’s) apparently shows this person run to the edge, then run back. if you have any shots from before, you may like to look closely and send them to hpd.

The photo txrice123 is commenting on was taken from the west side of the building, and St. Luke’s is to the north, so the comment is a little confusing, no? And, uh . . . which fifth floor? The hotel had a podium.

Next, KPRC-TV keeps talking about a “shadow,” but isn’t shedding any light on the subject:

The home video showed a shadow inside the building moments before it was destroyed on Sunday.

Who knows what lurked in there?

And of course there’s the mysterious sliding door, shown enlarged above from the video in Swamplot’s earlier post. ABC13 hypes this part of the video, but neglects to point out that several gust-inducing dynamite blasts have taken place and the building has already started to rumble by the time the door starts “sliding.” Hey, isn’t a fire door supposed to close in a case like this?

After the jump, the door slides shut!

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12:42 pm | Read more about Attractions, Crime, Demolitions, Neighborhoods: Texas Medical Center

Remaking Blow-Up, or Was Everybody Out When the Crowne Went Down?

November 15, 2007 – 12:05 am

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Watch this video very closely. Do you see someone entering the building before the demolition begins? Maybe on the left side of the screen?

No? Well, keep looking. How about enlarging the video — or breaking it down frame by frame — so you can examine it more carefully?

Apparently someone who shot a video of the same event from the same angle saw something in it so disturbing that he brought the footage to the attention of the Houston Police Department. And officers found the evidence credible enough that they spent the greater part of Wednesday searching through rubble to see if maybe someone got into the Crowne Plaza Hotel in the Texas Medical Center shortly before it was imploded Sunday morning.

KHOU-TV reports that police are focusing their search on the Fannin side of the building, which would be the street on the left. The station also says that the video used as evidence was in fact taken from the St. Luke’s Medical Tower — the same vantage point as the YouTube video above.

So is the video above the same one the police are studying?

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12:05 am | Read more about Attractions, Crime, Demolitions, Hazards, Hotels, Neighborhoods: Texas Medical Center
Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Why It Might Be a While Before Houston Implodes Another Building

November 14, 2007 – 4:24 pm

Here’s an awful thought: Was someone inside the Crowne Plaza Hotel when it was imploded Sunday morning? Channel 11 News is reporting that police received a tip earlier today “about a possible death on the site during the implosion.”

According to the tip, there may be video showing the person inside the building when it went down. It was unclear who had the video.

Police have yet to determine if the tip is legitimate.

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4:24 pm | Read more about Demolitions, Hotels, Neighborhoods: Texas Medical Center

The Secret Plan To Redevelop the Astrodome

November 14, 2007 – 10:15 am

Paczki, A Polish Jelly Donut

By now everybody knows the full story about the latest proposal to turn the Reliant Astrodome into a wacky, gondola-and-balloon-filled convention-hotel donut, right? Sure, it took the Astrodome Redevelopment Corporation four years to work out the plan — and okay, the would-be redevelopers might be a little stingy about actually showing anybody what the thing is supposed to look like. But the proposal’s clear enough that when the Rodeo and the Texans say they don’t like the project we know enough about the plan to understand what they’re objecting to. Right?

Well, maybe not.

In the latest installment of the Chronicle’s “Oh, by the way, we failed to mention” series on the latest Dome redo efforts, reporter Bill Murphy drops this little nugget about twenty-three paragraphs in:

The rodeo’s [Chief Operating Officer Leroy] Shafer said he understands that officials in his organization might be viewed as “obstructionists” because of their opposition to the plan. But the public, he said, would understand the rodeo’s stance if officials of the group could speak freely about what they see as the project’s problems. Rodeo officials had to sign confidentiality agreements before they were allowed to review details of the plan.

Hey, Harris County residents should feel lucky: we got to see a drawing of the project without all of us having to sign non-disclosure agreements! If we all promise to sign and keep our mouths shut, can we find out about the project secrets too?

But there’s more:

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10:15 am | Read more about Attractions, Development Strategy, Historic Preservation, Hotels, Neighborhoods: Reliant Park, Proposed Developments, Public Buildings
Monday, November 12, 2007

Crowne Plaza Demolition Party Report: All Your Pics and Videos

November 12, 2007 – 11:36 am

Crowne Plaza Hotel Demolition, Texas Medical Center, Houston

Looks like Sunday morning’s Crowne Plaza Hotel implosion at the Medical Center was a real party! We have reader reports and pics, plus a roundup of video and images from around the web — all after the jump.

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11:36 am | Read more about Attractions, Demolitions, Hotels, Neighborhoods: Texas Medical Center
Friday, November 9, 2007

It Was Super Happy Fun While It Lasted

November 9, 2007 – 11:33 am

Super Happy Fun Land on Ashland St. in the Heights

Houstonist reports that performance, concert, art, party, and . . . uh, barbecue venue Super Happy Fun Land is being kicked out of its brightly painted Heights bungalow:

Their current building (2610 Ashland St.) has been sold in order to make room for more condominiums, which some apparently delusional real estate-type creature has decided our fair city is lacking.

The last concert in that location will be at the end of January. Sure, it’s the end of an era, but it’s not as though the place is shutting down. Surely the club’s owners will be able to find a nice spot in a new strip center somewhere nearby.

Photo: Flickr user Shitface1000

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11:33 am | Read more about Attractions, Neighborhoods: Houston Heights, Openings and Closings

Hotel Astrodome: Rides and Hot Air

November 9, 2007 – 10:28 am

Gondolas

Hidden in today’s Chronicle update on the Dome’s status are a few more exciting details about the Astrodome Redevelopment Corporation’s still-mysterious plans to remake the former home of the Astros and Oilers into a convention hotel. It’s gonna be like a county fair!

Company CEO John Clanton casually mentions that the new hotel will have seven restaurants and an amusement park, possibly including a ride to “near the top of the Dome,” plus tethered hot-air balloons, a batting cage, and gondolas.

It’s unclear whether Clanton is referring to Venetian-style gondolas for navigating all the new waterways inside, or the kind you see on ski slopes, for crossing the ballfield central fairgrounds. More details on the Astrodome Redevelopment Corp. website!

Oh . . . that’s right. There isn’t one.

After the jump, the real reason County Judge Ed Emmett doesn’t want to demolish the Dome.

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10:28 am | Read more about Attractions, Historic Preservation, Hotels, Neighborhoods: Reliant Park, Proposed Developments, Public Buildings, Tourism
Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Dome Redo: Doomed from the Opening Pitch

November 7, 2007 – 8:02 am

Astros Vs. Expos at the Astrodome, 1992

More high comedy surrounding the Astrodome: Just what is Texans owner Bob McNair’s problem with the proposal to redevelop the Astrodome into a hotel? It’s . . . the hotel!

“A hotel would be in direct conflict with our games and when the rodeo is going on. You can’t tell guests they can’t come to the hotel on Sundays. That wouldn’t be fair to them. It wouldn’t be fair to our fans.

“We’re trying to be open-minded about this. We’re willing to look at anything that doesn’t conflict with our events.”

Now, you’re probably asking yourself: Haven’t the Texans known that the Astrodome Redevelopment Corporation was wanting to turn the Dome into a hotel now for about . . . what, three years? Wouldn’t the two groups maybe have wanted to chat with each other at some point during that period?

Silly you! You’re presuming that the Texans and the Rodeo and the Harris County Sports and Convention Corporation — Reliant Park’s landlords — actually have some intention or incentive to come up with a workable plan to redevelop the Astrodome. And you’re forgetting that turning the Dome into a hotel was an idea pushed early on by . . . the HCSCC’s chairman, Mike Surface! Remember that space-theme amusement-park concept that was so brilliant that the group that proposed it won the “competition” the HCSCC set up four years ago — even over other developer groups that had more experience and deeper pockets? That group was the Astrodome Redevelopment Corporation.

A year later the ARC scrapped its own space-park concept in favor of the convention-hotel complex pushed by the HCSCC. With the Sports and Convention Corporation’s backing, the company worked in secret for three more years to refine the proposal.

Good thing the HCSCC didn’t solicit any alternate proposals during that time. Just think of the confusion that would have caused!

Photo of Astrodome from August 28, 1992: Flickr user j4e0f0f

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8:02 am | Read more about Attractions, Development Strategy, Historic Preservation, Hotels, Neighborhoods: Reliant Park, Proposed Developments, Public Buildings, Tourism
Tuesday, November 6, 2007

I-10: The New Route Beer?

November 6, 2007 – 11:38 am

Current St. Arnold Brewery on Fairway Park, Houston

In a comment on Off the Kuff, Christof sends us a bird’s-eye view of the (unconfirmed) new site for the Saint Arnold Brewery:

As far as I can tell, this is the building in question.

It’s visible from I-10, so there’s some good signage potential (as a counterpoint to the big Budweiser signs at I-10/east loop and I-10 Washington).

Photo of current Saint Arnold brewery: Gary Hunt

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11:38 am | Read more about Attractions, Buying and Selling, Commercial Real Estate, Neighborhoods: Fifth Ward
Monday, November 5, 2007

Make Your Reservations Now for the Crowne Plaza Implosion

November 5, 2007 – 3:31 pm

Crowne Plaza Hotel in the Texas Medical Center

Update: Demo pics, videos, and more are now here.

Who says real estate isn’t a spectator sport? There’s nothing that brings out crowds of dedicated fans early in the morning like a good ol’ fashioned Houston building implosion.

This weekend, you’ll be able to combine your demolition obsession with a romantic weekend getaway at the Medical Center Holiday Inn — where, from the comfort of your own room (if you can reserve one facing north), you’ll be able to start your Sunday morning with a bang.

At 7:10 on November 11th, the Crowne Plaza Hotel across the street at 6701 Main will come down in a cloud of dust, to the cheers of onlookers able to sneak into prime viewing areas — such as the south side of the soon-to-be-the-former John O’Quinn Medical Tower. If you’re an explosives fan but don’t have that kind of access to medical-office space, you can try the view from Southgate, east of Travis.

Fannin and Main Streets will be closed from Dryden to Holcombe starting at 6:30 a.m.

What’s the best spot for viewing the Cherry Demolition job?

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3:31 pm | Read more about Attractions, Demolitions, Hotels, Neighborhoods: Texas Medical Center