For those of you who missed Downtown’s Gloworama at the end of November last year: A couple of videos showing the George R. Brown Convention Center — as you knew it was, all along.
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Tag: Attractions
SOUNDING THE ALARM AT THE AURORA PICTURE SHOW The microcinema’s founder, Andrea Grover, reports on the little Sunset Heights church on Aurora St. turned little movie theater — turned little crime scene: on recent events at the Menil-bungalow office of Aurora Picture Show on Sul Ross: “Now that the dust has settled . . . it’s OK to tell you: Aurora was burglarized, not once, but twice in 9 days, and the insurance claim was denied. . . . There was a small clause about a B3 monitoring system (a monitored alarm) that was not highlighted at signing and allowed the insurer to deny Aurora, after eleven uninterrupted years of payments to them (without a single claim) – probably amounting to $30-40,000 in insurance payments. . . . Now, out over $5000 worth of equipment, plus staff time, and contract labor for clean up . . .” [Facebook, via Arts in Houston]
Organizer (and Free Press Houston editor) Omar Afra calls it:
This will be the last Westheimer Block Party. However, the next one will be the return of the Westheimer Street Festival. It may take 2 months or it may take 2 years but this festival has outgrown our singular capacity. There can only be a return of the Westheimer Street Festival. The streets must be shut down, the city must get behind the event, and I can no longer personally foot the bill. Our staff can no longer handle the capacity of the growing festival and squeezing all of these people into the same block is becoming hazardous. The streets must be shut down. We have an on camera commitment from Annise Parker, that if elected, she will support street closure if we can find financing for necessary portopotties, police, and clean up. She even shook my hand on it. But we need the community involved. So whoever is elected, we are asking for a big community turnout at the first city council open session the new mayor presides over. We need 500+ people to swamp city hall and show city officials that there is indeed a large constituency that supports arts and music. We will let you know when this transpires but we NEED your support. We love this community so much and want to see WestFest grow but it cannot in it’s current form. We will be forming a non-profit to meet this challenge which will be made up of only Jedi’s who have an unyielding love for arts and music. It is time to take BIG steps and we will do whatever it takes to shut down the streets. . . .
- The Last Westheimer Block Party [Free Press Houston]
Photo of Behind Buildings performing at last weekend’s Westheimer Block Party: Ramon Medina [license]
A couple of months ago, a TABC application appeared outside the Indian Summer Lodge, Jeff Law’s quirky and colorful Quonset-Hut-turned-event-compound adjacent to the new Hike-and-Bike Trail off lower Columbia St. in the Heights. And so the rumor began that midtown’s Tacos-A-Go-Go might be moving or expanding there.
Now, however, the Indian Summer Lodge is for sale. A new listing was posted over the weekend on the MLS. The 16,170-sq.-ft. property features three buildings — the lodge, the “loft” (the Quonset hut), and a treehouse with skyline balcony.
Here’s what $775,000 gets you:
So much new stuff going on it’s impossible to keep track of it all!
- Opening Soon? A new “Houston Ave. Bar” at the site of the former Farmers Coffee Shop on the corner of Houston Ave. and White Oak. Here’s the evidence: A permit for a “2 story addition” to the property was approved by the city last month. The corner is already a popular gathering place for floodwaters — several commenters on HAIF have posted photos of the intersection after Hurricane Ike (see above) and Tropical Storm Allison.
- Moved: The Central City Co-op Wednesday market, from that Ecclesia space next to the Taft St. Coffee House to new digs at the Grace Lutheran Church at 2515 Waugh, just north of Missouri St. Sunday markets are still at Discovery Green. Next up for the co-op crew: Selling enough veggies to pay off those loans used for the church buildout.
- Opening Softly, Later This Month: A place called Canopy, from the folks who brought you that place called Shade. Claire Smith and Russell Murrell’s new restaurant will go in the spot where Tony Ruppe’s was, in the double-decked strip center at 3939 Montrose, reports Cleverley Stone. Three meals a day, 7 days a week, plus 3 seating areas:
a bright and refreshing dining room, festive bar and side street patio. We will eventually offer curbside “to go” service.
- Opening Early Next Month: The brand-new Dessert Shoppe, in the strip center portion of 19th Streete in the Heights. Fred Eats Houston writes that sisters Sara and RaeMarie Villar will be serving up “whole cakes and pies to individual desserts, along with assorted breakfast pastries, cookies, quiches, cupcakes, and some breads.”
- Reopened, for the First Time Since Ike: The Shriner’s Hospital for Children in Galveston. The combined boards of the International Shriners and Shriners Hospitals for Children had originally decided to close the hospital for good, after 30 inches of water wandered through the building’s first floor during the Hurricane. Shriners voting at this summer’s convention in San Antonio reversed that decision. The new hospital will have a smaller staff and budget. The Chronicle‘s Todd Ackerman reports that the hospital should already be open for reconstructive surgery cases; burn victims will have to wait until December for treatment.
And yet even more new stuff:
SECRETS OF THE NEW SAINT ARNOLD BREWERY Brittanie Shey reports on the grand opening of the local brewery’s new home at 2000 Lyons Ave. in the Fifth Ward: “We got to see the top secret investor’s bar, a swanky-looking room in the back with a lovely carved wooden bar-top. We also heard the story of how the building, which was once an HISD food distribution facility (a.k.a. a giant freezer and refrigerator) had to be literally thawed out — there were icicles hanging from the ceiling — before it could be inspected. . . . The newery has four floors, but most of the action is in the middle two. The first floor is where the brewing takes place. The second floor, with huge windows looking down to the first floor, is where the tastings are and where parties will take place for those who have rented out the brewery. The company is thinking of using the basement for aging beers, and the third floor, right now it’s just filled with storage.” [Houstonist; previously on Swamplot]
Live-music maker and fan Jeff Balke gets worked up over the rumor that Walter’s on Washington will be closing its doors after its Halloween show:
At one time, Washington Avenue was home to Rockefeller’s, The Fabulous Satellite Lounge, Club Hey Hey, the Bon Ton Room and The Vatican. Other notables including Walter’s, The Rhythm Room, Tones, Cosmo’s and others had their moments along the popular corridor. When Walter’s closes, that will be that for live music having been replaced by red velvet roped drinking spots that serve over-priced alcohol to those allowed in by bouncers.
Balke blog bonus: A blow-by-blow what-are-they-now guide to Washington Ave live-music venues gone bye-bye.
Houston Press music blog Rocks Off has this vague report: “The building has reportedly been sold and, we hear, Walter’s owner Pam Robinson is looking to relocate.”
- Final Nail in the Coffin for Washington Avenue Live Music [Broken Record]
- The Doucheification of Washington Avenue Soon Complete [Jeff Balke]
- Walter’s on Washington Closing In October; Club May Relocate [Rocks Off]
- Walter’s on Washington
Photo of Walter’s on Washington, 4215 Washington Ave.: Yelp user mark s.
Fifth Ward correspondents Vaughn and Terri Mueller drive by the building at 2000 Lyons St., across the railroad tracks from Hennessey Park — the future location for the Saint Arnold Brewery. And they notice the gate and a wide strip of the building open to view:
There aren’t any signs around the old HISD food service building exclaiming that Saint Arnold’s is moving in, but take a quick drive around the block and and it sure looks like a brewery inside. The expansion is still under construction but there is a large door (or unfinished wall) that is open to one of the side streets. . . . You can see some of the fermentation tanks in the corner. One of the only signs at the construction site is for the construction company “Clifford Jackson Contractors.”
PEARLAND MANSION MYSTERY — UNREVEALED! Having been indoctrinated into the bizarre cult of the 64,000-sq.-ft. unfinished residence-like warehouse she calls the Pearland Mystery Mansion, Katharine Shilcutt appears dedicated to keeping its secret: “What became of the house after Dr. Watkins abandoned it and went on to build the halfling mansion next door isn’t a matter of public record, suffice to say it’s a bizarre story of its own that deserves to be told one day. What will happen to the houses is anyone’s guess. The bank that owns both houses has had a feasibility study performed to determine whether or not they would be appropriate for group homes or assisted living facilities. Having been inside, it seems like the most fitting application for at least the larger of the two, if not both. It’s difficult to imagine why someone in their right mind would build what is — essentially — the world’s largest shotgun shack (or, more to the point, what architect conceived of this monstrosity as a residence). But it’s not at all difficult to picture these two buildings on this serene piece of land housing elderly or assisted care patients one day.” [Hair Balls; the house next door, featured on the Neighborhood Guessing Game]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: WHERE TO SEND THAT NEW TRAVEL TRAILER FOR ITS SHAKEDOWN CRUISE “The question I have is whether or not it’d survive the conditions at Burning Man.” [‘stina, commenting on Faro Out Extra-Vehicle Activity: Cricket Trailer Prototype Hits the Streets]
High-stakes real estate swindler Edward H. Okun was sentenced last week in a Virginia courtroom to 100 years in prison for absconding with about $126 million in funds entrusted to his qualified intermediary company by 1031 exchange investors. Meanwhile, back on the corner of Westheimer and Highway 6, one of his former properties went up for sale.
Okun’s Investment Properties of America bought the West Oaks Mall for $110 million in 2005. The sellers of the bankrupt property might expect to get $20 million for the million-sq.-ft. mall today, reports Globe St.‘s Amy Wolff Sorter:
The mall’s anchors include Dillard’s and Macy’s, which own their own space, and Sears, which is on a lease. [Holliday Fenoglio Fowler’s Robert] Williamson says the Sears lease is up in 2010, but negotiations are underway to keep the retailer in place.
When Okun bought the mall from Somera Capital and CoastWood Capital a little less than four years ago, the asset was 95% leased, and sported $10 million worth of exterior and interior improvements. IPA had even larger plans for even more renovations on the 33-acre site, Williamson says.
Less than a year later, the owner was able to secure $86 million of permanent financing for the mall. Yet by late 2007, IPA had filed for bankruptcy protection to stave off foreclosure. Okun’s troubles and a failing economy dropped the mall’s occupancy to a little less than 70%.
How’s the mall looking these days?
Sure, “immersive landscapes” — where visitors are supposed to feel like they’re just hanging out with the chimps and rhinos and giraffes in the wild — are the latest craze in zoo design. But what’s really the most innovative aspect of the new 13-acre African Forest the Houston Zoo is planning for its southernmost quadrant, at the intersection of North MacGregor and Golf Course Dr. in Hermann Park?
The project
. . . will feature closed-circuit TV connections with area hospitals, allowing patients to view animal keeper presentations or simply to watch animals in their near-natural habitats.
[Houston Zoo President Deborah] Cannon said the programs first will be made available to children’s hospitals, then expanded. Ultimately, they may be made available to local schools, she said.
At last, an effort to capture some of that technological synergy swirling around the Houston Zoo-Med Center nexus! Best of all is the Chronicle‘s own map identifying the project’s location, which is a gift to the city all by itself:
Remember back in ’83, when that couple that had bought a new home in Crosby’s Newport subdivision came across a couple of graves from what appeared to be an old slave cemetery as they dug a new swimming pool in their backyard? Okay, how about that Patty Duke TV movie they made out of the story? Remember that?
Well, it looks like those ghosts are . . . still hanging around!
Just look at all the orbs that show up in these photos by a newly minted actual probationary Houston firefighter! Blogger Marissa in Houston recently joined a few fire-station buddies for a little nighttime ghosthunting adventure around Poppets Way:
We found a church that seemed to have no one there and butted up right against that creepy forest. We drove back and right up to the wooded area. This time, I did NOT get out of the car. I couldn’t. I felt so much around me just sitting in the seat that there was no way I could even fathom of being out there. As I sat there and snapped pictures from my Jeep fortress, I kept watching the three others out in front of the car. Once, I saw a pair of legs standing next to the guy on the end. Just the legs, nothing else. Another time, I was looking at something that Mitchell had on the laptop screen ( he was sitting in the front passenger seat and I was leaning through the middle), and the illuminated shadow of someone walking in front of the drivers side head light caught my eye. I thought it was one of our people and turned to say something, but there was no one there. I vividly remember the motion of someone walking and the shape of a person. It was undeniable to me.
Creepy! What else is going on in the neighborhood?
Hidden upstairs in that new double-decker strip center on the south side of 59 between the Kirby CVS and the feeder-road Chick-Fil-A, nestled between a hair salon and a spa, is a brand-new recital hall, outfitted with a 7-foot-5 Hamburg Steinway Model C grand piano and room for up to 100 fans of fine classical music. Leave the curtains on the back wall open, and performers can appreciate a sweeping view of the freeway traffic as they play.
The hall is inside the brand-new Dowling Music, a gifts-and-sheet-music store run by concert pianist Richard Dowling, who recently returned to his hometown and bought the Houston branch of Pender’s Music (which Pender’s had bought from the local Wadler-Kaplan Music Shop in 2000).
The strip center and its neighbors were built on the former Kirby Dr. site of Westheimer Transfer & Storage, which former Rockets star Hakeem Olajuwon bought in 2002. Olajuwon demolished the building and flipped the land, parceling it out in pieces to suburban-style developers.
Dowling, who performs about 60 concerts a year around the world, can’t have expected much walk-in business from visitors patronizing other establishments in the strip center. Downstairs from his store is the Methodist Breast Imaging Center; an Israeli martial arts studio, a weight-loss clinic, a GolfTEC indoor golf clinic, and the Pasha Snoring & Sinus Center round out the second floor. But Dowling tells the West University Examiner‘s Steve Mark that traffic has doubled since he moved the store from its Portwest Dr. location:
A California real estate agent who relocated to The Woodlands 5 years ago has plans to build a “Texas”-themed theme park on a foreclosed and forested site in Tomball currently zoned as a subdivision. The 100-acre attraction, which developer and EZ Realty broker Monty Galland envisions as “a combination of an adventure park, museum, retail center and agricultural classroom,” will strive to encompass and celebrate “all that is Texas, Texas History and the Old West.” Yesterday he showed abc13 reporter Sonia Azad a few rough sketches from his architect, out of the back of his SUV.
Grand Texas is Galland’s brainchild. “Met with the architect today,” Galland — or maybe somebody updating the project’s Facebook page for him — wrote on June 25th:
Project is moving along NICELY! We got to see the first of several sketches. It’s kind of like seeing your baby’s first ultrasound picture!
Galland tells the Tomball Potpourri he plans to open the first phase of the park at 11598 Holderrieth Rd., between the railroad tracks and FM 2978, by next April. This would include an indoor entertainment center with rock climbing and a mechanical bull, a play area with pony rides and petting zoos, and a “family-friendly” paintball facility. Planned for the following year:
Wild Texas Frontier, an island filled with activities for all ages, including high ropes courses that traverse a river, canoeing, catch & release fishing, and a giant maze; and The Mansion, a reception hall reminiscent of the Texas State Governors Mansion, which can be used for a wedding reception of up to 400 guests or more intimate business functions.
Where’s all the financing going to come from? Best of all: You can invest!
