COMMENT OF THE DAY: AS SEEN ON TEEVEE “Remember the show “Houston Knightsâ€? I loved watching that for [its] single season. My favorite part was the [scenic] hills off in the distance, and the heroes speeding to downtown from NASA via the Galleria. The scenes were always the same loops that they filmed here at one point put into different orders and called by different landmark names. The Astrodome was usually consistant but that was the only landmark they got right. I can’t wait to see all of the Dallas/FW landmarks called by Houston names. Sounds like a drinking game to me.” [SCD, commenting on Jerry Bruckheimer Knows All the Hottest Houston Cop Action Is in Dallas]
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Tag: Attractions
Some managers at Downtown’s Angelika Film Center who showed up for work Sunday morning didn’t know any better than customers showing up for the Sunday morning matinees of Eat Pray Love and Farewell that the indie theater had been shuttered overnight. “After 13 years of continued service to the Houston community,” read a note posted on an empty ticket-booth window and papered-over front doors, “the Angelika’s lease has been terminated by the Angelika’s landlord, Bayou Place Limited Partnership, an affiliate of the Cordish Company.” But Cordish officials weren’t even returning phone calls from the Chronicle. Anyone want to tell us what really happened?
BATTLEFIELD RECOVERY A group of Texas history buffs called the Friends of the San Jacinto Battleground has spent $625K to buy 19 mostly overgrown acres near the San Jacinto Monument — 8 of them under water — from the estate of noted car collector and attorney John O’Quinn. The group intends to restore the tidal marsh, place historical markers, and add 1830s-approprate foliage such as cypress and pine to the property on Battleground Rd. just southwest of the Lynchburg Ferry, on the south bank of Buffalo Bayou. The goal: a landscape that evokes the good ol’ days of the Texas Revolution, long before the local ground started sinking. More detailed plans for the redevelopment are still under discussion, but the organization hopes to raise $325K for the project and wants to begin improvements in time for the 175th anniversary of the Texian assault in 2011. A few decades after it was crossed by battling Mexican and Texian armies, the land held a Confederate armory, barracks and shipyard. More recently, other potential bidders for the property were interested in using it for an industrial complex or a school for energy and maritime workers. [Houston Chronicle; project details]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: THEY LAUGHED AT THE IDEA OF PUTTING A DOME ON TOP OF A SPORTS STADIUM, TOO 
“. . . It is possible. The air space, the cooling system, flooding, venting, and anything else you could possibly think of. You people don’t think they have already thought of every possible scenario? These are very smart people, smarter than me and everyone else on this opionated blog. Like one of the guys on here said about us not ever imagining [an] indoor sports arena possible, and now we have many. And let’s just say it did happen. Did any of you ever stop to think about the extreme economic growth it would create for our city? A major city turned into probably the worlds number one tourist attraction. Resturants, shops, malls, and probably every business would boom. Not including the thousands that would pop up becasue of it. Creating thousands of jobs. . . .” [fhp, commenting on We’re All Astrodome Now: The Mile-Wide Dome Over Houston] Image: Engineering, Discovery Channel
PASADENA STILL WAITING FOR ITS SHIPS TO COME IN 
The 96,000-sq.-ft. Bayport Cruise Terminal is sitting empty, reporter Jenalia Moreno notices. Still, Port of Houston chairman James Edmonds is optimistic about the future of the 140-acre $81 million facility, which was completed in 2008: “The port is offering to work with cruise lines to develop 40 acres of land near the terminal, hoping that will encourage one to base a ship at the Pasadena property. Restaurants, hotels and other attractions could be built on the land and turn the spot into a destination point, Edmonds said . . . The Bayport cruise terminal was part of a $387 million bond proposal Harris County voters approved in 1999. Cruise ships were calling at the port when voters approved the bonds and when construction began on the new terminal. They were gone by the time the terminal was complete, however, mostly because of financial problems at both cruise lines.” [Houston Chronicle] Photo: Silent Z
DYNAMO STADIUM DESIGN NO LONGER SKETCHY 
AEG president Tim Leiweke says the design for the new Dynamo Stadium just east of Downtown is “100 percent complete,” and that at least 2 local companies have expressed interest in naming rights, which he’s eager to sell. “We are pricing the construction out now. We have a pretty good handle on the budget. The project will probably come in including the land at $110 million and the fact that we are sitting here talking about a ground-breaking by the end of the year and playing soccer and football for TSU by June of 2012 is amazing. It has come together quickly in the last few months.†[Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot] Rendering of stadium “conceptual” version: Populous
A representative of Margie Beegle Sales expects this two-story home in Southgate across the street from Rice University to hit the market next month. If you’re interested in a sneak preview of the home or would enjoy the opportunity to participate in the frenzied dismantling of the rather astounding collection of collections mounted inside, here’s your chance. The estate sale at 2141 University Blvd. is this weekend. Looking for a Kabuki mask or a vintage Hell Driver Rodeo racetrack? You’re in luck! A few more featured items from among the assembled treasures: KISS Psychic Circus action figures, some rather large Nutcracker figurines, and two full size mirror-image representations of Cracker Jack’s blue and white logo-man Sailor Jack with his dog Bingo. A much abbreviated preview of the scene:
AURORA PICTURE SHOW’S ORIGINAL MOVIE HOUSE HAS A BUYER 
The woman who’s buying the former home of the Aurora Picture Show from microcinema pioneer Andrea Grover plans on starting her own new film and arts organization and running it out of the former Sunset Height Church of Christ at 800 Aurora St. Artist, filmmaker, and law student Cressandra Thibodeaux‘s name for her new concept: 14 Pews. She hopes to host theater and film productions, weddings, art exhibitions, classes, and workshops in the space, along with occasional screenings from . . . Aurora Picture Show. Writer Steven Thomsen gets Thibodeaux to gush: “‘I’m going through a divorce and thought that Houston would be the best place to lick my wounds,’ she tells CultureMap. ‘It’s always treated me like a forgiving lover who wraps me in her warm moist arms. And the moment I landed at the airport I was engulfed in her warm moistness. . . . I have spent 10 years tossing ideas and projects at the walls in Los Angeles,’ she explains. ‘I came to Houston and in one week everything I tossed stuck to the walls. I credit the humidity.’” [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Kenny Haner
Having displayed a remarkable ability to minimize outside participation in the “open call” for Astrodome redevelopment proposals it conducted half a decade ago, the brilliant and methodical minds behind the Harris County Sports & Convention Corporation now appear ready to demonstrate similar mastery of the process of public-opinion polling. The corporation is counting actual votes in the online poll it set up last week, which allows website visitors from any country to choose from one of 2 kitchen-sink redevelopment proposals — or the garbage-disposal option pictured above. With 5,800 “votes” cast, longtime corporation executive director Willie Loston notes that the “save the Dome” options are winning by a landslide. But wait! Maybe they just haven’t been asking the right people?
To solicit more participation, Loston has asked some of Reliant Park’s tenants — the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, the Houston Texans and the Offshore Technology Conference – to encourage their constituents to take the survey.
Asked if that could be construed as an attempt to manufacture support for a more costly park makeover, Loston said he does not see it as an attempt to shape the survey’s outcome.
Note to contracted visitors: Local Zip Codes begin with “770.”
- ‘Save the Dome’ leads poll by a landslide [Houston Chronicle]
- Latest Astrodome Redevelopment Proposal Features Large Domed Space for People To Mill About, Wondering What To Do with Astrodome [Swamplot]
- Astrodome coverage [Swamplot]
Drawing of flattened Astrodome: Reliant Park
COMMENT OF THE DAY: WRITE-IN ADDITION TO THE NEW KITCHEN-SINK ASTRODOME REDEVELOPMENT PLAN “How about turning the Astrodome into the Smithsonian Museum of Energy and Power? Just like the National Air & Space Museum, it could collect the actual artifacts of the industry that calls Houston home and that plays such an important part in all of our daily lives. You could put a whole supertanker, a few notorious drilling rigs, some significant parts of an oil refinery, working solar panels and several generations of windmill turbines inside. Divide up the concourse spaces for offices (alternative energy business incubators, etc) Could be really interesting and also an appropriate use for the facility.” [SCL, commenting on Latest Astrodome Redevelopment Proposal Features Large Domed Space for People To Mill About, Wondering What To Do with Astrodome]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: HOPING THERE’LL STILL BE RIDES AT WHATEVER REPLACES ASTROWORLD “They might even put in a sweet gondola system. Or maybe a high-speed, elevated, rail-based shuttle system with small, open-air, 2-to-4 passengers cars to get you from building to building. And maybe they could incorporate some steeply banking curves and a loop or two along the route.” [Benjy Compson, commenting on Green and Wiggly AstroWorld Redevelopment Plan Coulda Been a Contender]
Got a question about something going on in your neighborhood you’d like Swamplot to answer? Sorry, we can’t help you. But if you ask real nice and include a photo or 2 with your request, maybe the Swamplot Street Sleuths can! Who are they? Other readers, just like you, ready to demonstrate their mad skillz in hunting down stuff like this:
Some answers to your questions!
- Riverside Terrace: Homeowner and eternal contractor Charlie Fondow told the Houston Press back in 2001 that his continually expanding house on Wichita St. just east of 288, where he’s lived since 1980, “is the love of my life. I don’t know how to live in a house that’s finished.” Clair de Lune comments on his towering and turreted Queen Anne show:
I wonder how Charlie is doing these days, and (since the story doesnt mention a family) what will happen to the house after he’s gone. I also wonder if the interior is as interesting as the exterior? It might be time for a follow-up.
Hey, all you local journalist types who use Swamplot as a tip sheet: How about it?
- Willowbend: Commenter Sihaya explains that the horses gently grazing under the high-voltage power lines in the easement west of Stella Link below the South Loop are the animal benefactors of agricultural-use leases set up by Houston’s power company in order to lower its property taxes:
Got an answer to either of these reader questions? Or just want to be a sleuth for Swamplot? Here’s your chance! Add your report in a comment, or send a note to our tipline.
- Willowbend: Reader Robert Kimberly has been trying to find out what the story is behind the horses grazing under the power lines west of Stella Link below the South Loop:
This vast green area is home to a collection of horses, as well as stables and maybe a riding paddock. But the fences on the north end (W. Bellfort) and south end (Willowbend) are unlabeled and no amount of Google-Fu gets me any closer to the answer.
- Riverside Terrace: A number of readers have been asking about this well-watched house on Wichita St. between 288 and Dowling — usually in phrases like:
What’s going on here???
Looks like a little of this:
Home theater specialist Andrea Grover is leaving Houston — and selling the Sunset Heights church-turned-movie-theater-turned-residence where she founded a well-known local arts organization 13 years ago. For the 10 years that it operated on Aurora St. just east of Main, Aurora Picture Show featured a ridiculous range of obscure and not-quite-as-obscure film and video screenings in its sanctuary space, along with 13 weddings and a couple of memorial services. Then 2 years ago, Grover explains, the microcinema went south — to Montrose:
Aurora relocated its office and library to a bungalow in “Doville” (the neighborhood affectionately named after Dominique de Menil). Their programming has been nomadic and site-specific in order to attract new audiences and activate different sites in Houston. This strategy has worked extremely well for the organization, which has seen increased attendance and membership as a result of catering to Houston’s love for new experiences and one-of-a-kind events. I retired at the end of 2008, and Aurora is doing so well that I wonder why I didn’t do it sooner!
The house includes a movie chapel with pew seating for 96, audio-video equipment, and a “disused baptistry,” along with a small freestanding outhouse for theatergoers that was “designed by a well-known architect (Michael Bell), though you would never guess it,” writes Grover.
The home comes with a trailer, too:
SHOWTIME IN HOUSTON: HOW CHERRY DEMOLITION SURE WOULD LIKE TO SMASH UP THE ASTRODOME The last year and a half has been “bleak” for the local demolition industry, says Cherry Demolition’s Mike Dokell. But he’s eager to get his hands on the big one: “Because the Rodeo/Texans can’t use it, and due to the building’s design and current condition, it would be nearly impossible to do anything with the structure. I say wreck it. And, yes, I would want to be involved in the project. Most probably, explosives would be involved in the demolition to some extent. But, there are many features of the structure that would have to be taken down conventionally. The eventual demolition of the Dome would be quite a show, and we at Cherry would love to be part of it.” [Houston Business Journal; previously on Swamplot]