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Thursday, July 10, 2008

Grace Community Church and the Giant Crosses on I-45

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The two “Marking Our City” billboards near Grace Community Church’s north and south I-45 locations depict a plain white cross, an American flag, and the words “150 FT CROSS COMING SOON.” But they probably show only the top portion of the structures the church is planning — and the 150-ft. label may be selling the project short. The Chronicle’s Lisa Gray says

. . . the pastor hopes both structures will be 200 feet tall, roughly the height of a 20-story building. The Federal Aviation Administration, he said, may limit the south campus’s cross to 150 feet because it’s near Ellington Field.

Five-and-a-half minutes into the Grace Community Church video above, Grace senior pastor Steve Riggle walks viewers through a drawing of a more elaborate structure. Riggle asks

What if there was one of these at every entrance to the city? And it was there for the prayer movement in the city, not just a church. You talk about marking our city for God.

After the jump: More crosses on the side of the highway!

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Monday, June 30, 2008

Baytown Annexes 320 Acres for Second Baptist

Parking Lot for Proposed Second Baptist Church of Baytown on North Main St., Baytown, TX

Baytown’s City Council has voted to annex 320 acres of land along North Main and south of I-10 — so that Baytown’s Second Baptist Church can get utility and other municipal services for a new 48,000-sq.-ft., $8.7 million shopping-center-style facility it is hoping to construct on North Main St.

The Baytown Sun’s Barrett Goldsmith reports that even more land may be annexed:

According to information submitted to Council by city planner Kimberly Brooks, additional property along North Main will be brought to Council for annexation as the utility system is extended to the area.

After the jump: More images of the new church . . . plus a video!

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Tuesday, May 20, 2008

A Few Scenes from Mt. Carmel’s Battle of the Bulge

Collapse and Demolition of the Mt. Carmel Missionary Baptist Church, Fourth Ward, Houston

ABC13’s Miya Shay posts these photos of the impromptu demolition of the Mt. Carmel Missionary Baptist Church at Ruthven and Valentine in the Fourth Ward, which began collapsing on its own Friday.

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Monday, March 24, 2008

Sanctioned by the Congregation: The Office Building Next to First Baptist

Rendering of Proposed Hines Office Building Adjacent to First Baptist Church, Houston

A reader directs our attention to this proposed 16-story office building facing the south side of the Katy Freeway, just outside the Loop — on the current site of a Houston’s First Baptist Church parking lot.

Hines plans to build the office building and an 11-level, 1,500-car parking garage on the lot, which the developer would lease from the church. The congregation has already voted to authorize church representatives to finalize and sign a 99-year ground lease for the property.

The garage would help solve the church’s chronic parking problems: According to the HFBC website, 300 cars currently park off-site on weekends. With the Hines development, the church would lose the 480 spaces in the lot now available during the week, but gain 1,500 spaces for church use on weekends and after office hours.

Below the fold, lots more images of the proposed office building and garage on HFBC property.

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