It would seem that McDonald’s has resolved the steely staring contest between these 2 signs from 2 different eras, having gone ahead and ushered out the old restaurant here on Elgin and Cullen near the U of H campus to put up a brand-new one, a regional rep from the company confirms. No renderings of the next generation are available yet, but the rep says that it should be open in time for the fall semester.
Photo: Allyn West
Read more about: 77004, Demolitions, Franchises and Chain Stores, New Construction, Restaurants, Third Ward, University of Houston
That’s what the Houston chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects (or HNOMA) seems to suspect, having sent a letter to HISD superintendent Terry Grier alleging “disenfranchisement” and wanting to know why so few jobs funded by last year’s $1.89 billion bond to rebuild 40 schools have been awarded to African-American-owned firms, reports Hair Balls: “Only two percent of the monies assigned have gone to the six [Houston-area] architectural firms run solely by African-American owners,” says Jeff Balke. “According to the letter, it appears that none of the six firms in question were even interviewed for projects pertaining to the four traditionally African-American high schools being rebuilt,” one of which is Yates High School, shown here. Adds HNOMA veep Anzilla Gilmore: “In the 2007 Bond, all of these firms got work, so we assumed that with a Bond this big, these guys shouldn’t have any issues. . . . They just need the chance, and if they don’t get the chance, they should be told why.” [HISD; Hair Balls; previously on Swamplot] Photo: HISD
Read more about: 77004, HISD, Schools, Third Ward
A trio of Rice grads has come up with what seems to be a kind of golden mean between gentrification and decay, when it comes to restoring an old home that no longer works the way it should and yet still preserving the character of the neighborhood: Andrew Daley, Jason Fleming, and Peter Muessig are calling it InHouse OutHouse, reports OffCite, and it’s a prefabricated core consisting of a kitchen, bathroom, and mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems that’s then inserted — like a transplanted kidney, say — into a hole cut in the wall. The photo here shows just such an insertion of the team’s prototype — which they estimate cost almost $35,000 and took 220 hours to build — at the Bastrop Stuart House among the Project Row Houses in the Third Ward. [OffCite] Photo: Mary Beth Woiccak via OffCite
Read more about: 77004, Adaptive Reuse, Prefabrication, Preservation, Renovations, Third Ward
Flanked by a pair of churches, these stick frames just popped up in the Third Ward. Plans for the development called Bastrop Plaza show a row of 9 townhouses on a vacant lot at the intersection of Webster and Bastrop. That’s a block west of Dowling St., 2 blocks south of the Gulf Fwy., and 2 5 north of Emancipation Park, primed for a very expensive redevelopment project of its own this summer. A sign at the construction site here announces that the townhouses will start at $260,000.
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Read more about: 77003, Land Development, New Construction, Third Ward, Townhouses
April 15, 2013 – 11:00 am
HISD voted on Thursday night to reopen the closing Ryan Middle School next year as a magnet for students interested in the medical field. Though community protests have tried to move HISD to keep the Third Ward school open, a vote a month ago decided that the 263 Ryan students — the fewest at any HISD middle school, reports the Houston Chronicle’s Ericka Mellon — would be consolidated at Cullen Middle School, about 4 miles away on Scott St. The 1926 Elgin St. building that was the original Yates Colored High School, reports abc13, will be reopened as the Baylor College of Medicine Academy at Ryan to “allow more students to compete for admission into the highly selective DeBakey High School for the Health Professions.” Also approved in Thursday’s vote is a second magnet, the Energy Institute High School, though HISD has not yet chosen where that will be. [Houston Chronicle; abc13; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Read more about: 77004, Openings and Closings, Schools, Third Ward
Despite the community’s protests, HISD voted 5-3 last night to close Ryan Middle School at the end of the school year, reports the Houston Chronicle’s Ericka Mellon: “Roughly two dozen speakers — mostly alumni and community activists — blasted the Houston Independent School District over the closure plans, at times nearing tears and shouting from the audience. They called the Ryan closure ‘blatantly discriminatory.’” Ryan’s 263 students, reports Mellon, are the fewest among HISD middle schools; the students will be consolidated about 4 miles away at Cullen Middle School on Scott St. HISD superintendent Terry Grier says that Ryan’s 1958 Elgin St. building might be repurposed into a DeBakey-like health-careers magnet. [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Read more about: 77004, Openings and Closings, Quicklink, Schools, Third Ward
The steps in front of Ryan Middle School were the site of a rally yesterday in protest of an HISD proposal to close and consolidate the historic Third Ward school. HISD says the proposal calls to move students to Cullen Middle School on Scott St. because of low enrollment at Ryan, shown at right, which opened on Elgin St. when Yates High School moved to a new location in 1958. But teevee reporter Demond Fernandez says that the protestors see it “as a pattern of closing schools in predominately African-American communities. . . . And they say if HISD trustees move to pass a decision like that tonight, they may be prepared to go to court.” [abc13] Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Read more about: 77004, Openings and Closings, Quicklink, Schools, Third Ward
February 20, 2013 – 1:00 pm
Design plans for the $18 million Emancipation Park overhaul are done, reports KUHF’s Pat Hernandez, and the work — including renovations (as this rendering suggests) to the gym, baseball field, pool, and community center — is expected to begin at the 10-acre Third Ward park this summer.
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Read more about: Emancipation Park, Houston History, Houston Landmarks, Parks, Proposed Developments, Public Space, Third Ward
February 1, 2013 – 3:30 pm
Houston artist Bert Long passed away of pancreatic cancer earlier today. He was 72. This photo shows one of Long’s most recognizable pieces: “Field of Vision” is located across the street from Emancipation Park on the corner of Elgin and Bastrop, next door to the Eldorado Ballroom. Born in the Fifth Ward, Long worked as a Hyatt Regency executive chef before pursuing an arts career. “Bert would walk in anywhere. He’d do anything,” Long’s friend James Surls tells the Houston Chronicle. “He was unabashed and unafraid.”
Photo: Allyn West
Read more about: 77004, Art, Emancipation Park, Houston History, Obituaries, Public Art, Third Ward
August 20, 2012 – 12:55 pm
“It seems as though this sign appeared over night” at the corner of Dowling St. and Holman St., writes the reader who sent in the photo at left. It reads, “Coming Soon, Third Ward,” above and below a Whole Foods Market logo. “Is this true?” the reader wants to know. Aw, c’mon! Someone went to all that trouble to put up this sign . . . and now you want to ruin the fun? [Swamplot inbox] Photo: Swamplot inbox
Read more about: 77004, Grocery Stores, Proposed Developments, Retail, Third Ward
“I own a small lot [near Scott and Alabama] in the third ward area, it is a gated lot near UH. A real estate agent wrote a letter asking if I would be interested in selling the lot. I paid no attention to it but he called and asked if I would be interested in selling. I told him if he made an offer I would consider it. I asked him what are they going to building on the lot but I could not find out until I signed the contract. It looks like this real estate agent does residential properties but new homes don’t sell fast in that area of third ward. Do you have any idea of what he could developing in that area? Could it have something to do with the rail line? I am just curious as to what could be built in that area. My lot is 5000 sq ft and it is surrounded by residential lots.” [Swamplot inbox]
Read more about: Buying and Selling, Third Ward
September 22, 2011 – 10:20 am
The Third Ward’s 10-acre Emancipation Park — on Elgin 2 blocks east of Hwy. 59 — is scheduled receive at least $7 million in improvements, though the historic park’s supporters are hoping to raise funds to boost that figure to $18 million. Either would mark a significant step up from the $800 the Rev. Jack Yates and a group of freed slaves pooled to purchase the property in 1872, as a location for Juneteenth celebrations. (It was later donated to the city.) Recent commitments include $4 million from the OST/Almeda Corridors Redevelopment Authority, $2 million from the city, and a just-announced $1 million grant from Texas’s Parks and Wildlife Dept. According to an HBJ report, local landscape architecture firm M2L Associates is currently at work planning an entry plaza, outdoor exhibit area, trails, lighting, historical markers, and a new building with additional parking for the park. Later phases of improvements would renovate or add a community center, pool house, playground, picnic areas, benches, and sports fields and courts. [Houston Chronicle, Houston Business Journal] Photo: City of Houston
Read more about: 77004, Houston History, Parks, Proposed Developments, Renovations, Third Ward
The head of real estate for HISD tells Texas Watchdog’s Lynn Walsh that Jack Yates High School is not being sold, no matter what she’s heard. The Third Ward institution is wedged between a Texas Southern University parking garage and UH’s Robertson Stadium; rumors had HISD selling the 1958 campus to one university or the other. [Texas Watchdog] Photo: Nick Juhasz (license)
Read more about: 77004, Buying and Selling, Schools, Texas-Southern-University, Third Ward, University of Houston
Comment of the Day: Baby, Please Don’t Go Down the Bulk Foods Aisle
“That’s Lightnin’s corner. HELL NO!!!” [SYMWAFA, commenting on Conquering Flag of Whole Foods Market, Planted in the Third Ward]