Getting some blunt refurbishment: the old Mervyn’s and Steve and Barry’s at West Oaks, plus a couple of smaller single-stories.
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Tag: Demolitions
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
What happens on Saint Andrews stays on Saint Andrews. Unless, of course, some of it gets carted off to the dump.
The owner of 4 vacant apartment buildings and 4 carports just north of the future site of the Idylwood Walmart now has 9 days left to get a permit and tear them down — or the city will do it for him and send a bill. Zion Ohana bought the already somewhat-decrepit properties bordering Idylwood at 6634 Sylvan Rd. in January 2009, a few years after the previous owner — who had lived in one of the units — passed away. About 20 neighborhood residents and representatives of nearby businesses showed up to yesterday’s city hearing, but Ohana didn’t, and didn’t send anyone to speak for him. One Idylwood resident thinks that might be part of the reason the owner ended up with a $72,000 fine for leaving the structures in their current condition — $1,000 per day per structure for the 9 days since a notice was posted on the properties.
And the great Katy Freeway-friendly Marq*E remodel begins:
FLAGSHIP COLLAPSEÂ KILLS 
The 65-year-old demolition worker from Utah who was trapped after a portion of the Flagship Hotel collapsed on him yesterday died from his injuries less than an hour after he was rescued. Landry’s, the owner of the hotel, is tearing it down in order to add amusement rides to the 25th St. pier it sits on. An investigation is currently underway, and Galveston’s fire chief tells reporter Laura Elder that there’s still danger of another collapse: “Ardent, the contractor of record, could have brought in subcontractors to handle the job, and the city was in the process of determining Tuesday what company employed the injured man, city of Galveston spokeswoman Alicia Cahill said.
Crews demolished the hotel to the second floor slab. It rested, partially collapsed, at an angle with the westernmost edge appearing to touch the floor of the pier.
The injured man was in a void of concrete, [Fire chief Jeff] Smith said.
‘Entrapment time was about 20 minutes, and he had about 1,000 pounds of weight on top of him,’ Smith said.” [Galveston County Daily News; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Click2Houston
The YMCA of Greater Houston is considering several options for the 1.3-acre piece of land off Waugh Dr. that until last week held the vacant Masterson Branch of the YWCA, according to a communications document forwarded to Swamplot. Among the possibilities for the property at 3615 Willia St., which sits on a bluff above Spotts Park and overlooks White Oak Bayou: building a new YMCA facility, collaborating with the city and area nonprofits to develop “recreational opportunities” on the site, partnering with a developer on an unspecified project, or selling it outright. If the organization is considering selling the property, why did it decide to tear down the 1982 building, designed by Houston’s Taft Architects?
They’ve decided to make the ongoing demolition of Downtown Y official. You should be able to find a relic or two a few blocks away in the new Tellepsen Branch.
FLAGSHIP HOTEL DEMOLITION GOES A LITTLE FASTER THANÂ EXPECTED 
A portion of the second floor of Galveston’s Flagship Hotel collapsed this afternoon, as it was being dismantled. One worker is in critical condition after he was freed from being pinned under 1,000 pounds of debris on the north end of the structure, on the 25th St. Pier. [Click2Houston; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Click2Houston
Look out for the smaller homes in the nicer neighborhoods. Those are the ones they tend to go for.
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
Fore! We tee off the week with these shots into the rough:
It won’t hurt too bad if we just take all four of these out real quick. One motion. Right off.
Good news for those of you who enjoy the athletic side of demolition: At the moment, crews from Cherry Demolition are hard at work taking apart not just the Downtown Y, but this iconic vacant Y on Willia St. off Waugh Dr. as well, just north of Spotts Park. It’s the former Masterson Branch YWCA, designed by Houston’s own Taft Architects in a blaze of postmodern glory back in 1979, opened in 1982, but left to collect mold spores since its closing in 2005. The property was purchased a few years ago by the Greater Houston YMCA, with plans to open a new Wortham YMCA on that location.
Swamplot reader Jason Ezer was on the spot yesterday and captured these views of the formal decommissioning ceremonies:
Maybe it was something he couldn’t get, or something he lost. Anyway, it wouldn’t have explained anything… I don’t think any demolition can explain a man’s life.
