Just wave the big hand and they go away.
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Tag: Demolitions
If it doesn’t look like much of the 10-story building at 3400 Montrose Blvd. has been taken down yet, that’s because you’re looking at it (in the above photo, at least) from the front. Come around to the back side of the boulevard-facing office tower that featured Cody’s and later Scott Gertner’s Skybar on its top floor to see how far the demo has come along:
From the Rear
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
Now destroying: A tree house, some apartments, and a “tin” barn that helped put Houston on the art map.
DEMOLITION OF HOUSTON’S FIRST CENTRAL-AC MANSION KEPT GOING, LONG INTO THE NIGHT 
As a “tribute” to the former Bullock–City Federation Mansion at 411 Lovett Blvd. demolished by an excavator last night, the hosts of a late-night show on KPFT — the radio station whose broadcast studio is next door — entertained listeners from 2 am to 5 am this morning with the recorded sounds of the 1906 structure being smashed to bits. No word on whether “Julia,” the ghost that according to this lengthy narrative has possibly inhabited the structure since at least the mid-1980s has in the meantime found a new home. [The Chestnut Tree; Dreamcraft; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Swamplot inbox
If you’re listening to KPFT this morning and are wondering what those crashing sounds are in the background, it’s just an excavator ripping chunks out of the 1906 Bullock–City Federation Mansion next door to the radio station’s studios, at 411 Lovett Blvd. Demolition permits for the recently renovated 8,000-sq.-ft. structure and a separate building in back were granted by the city on Monday. That night, a reader reported to Swamplot that workers were removing windows, mouldings, doors, a mailbox, and flooring late into the evening. But hardcore exterior demo work appears to have begun yesterday afternoon.
The former wedding and event venue turned high-tech office building (with a complete renovation completed in 2005) was recently sold to developers who are reportedly planning to build townhomes on the three-quarters-of-an-acre site at the corner of Taft and Lovett Blvd. Its previous owners touted the structure as the first Houston building ever to have central air conditioning. (It was retrofitted with custom iron ceiling medallions that served as AC vents and chandelier mounts in 1926.)
These photos were taken by a reader around 7:30 this morning:
Making History of Air Conditioning History
Disconnecting the former Glasscock School of Continuing Studies Martel Building from the Rice Media Center, and other riveting acts:
In which the much-noted Bullock-City Federation Mansion on Lovett Blvd. receives its much-anticipated permission for demolition:
Swamplot’s Daily Demolition Report lists buildings that received City of Houston demolition permits the previous weekday.
Here’s where we’ll start our unhouse collection:
Readers are reporting to Swamplot that the end appears nigh for the 1906Â Bullock-City Federation Mansion at 411 Lovett Blvd. in Montrose. Salvage and demolition crews have been at work there for much of the week, removing wood floors and gutting other pieces from the fancy interior. Portions of the garden (see photo at left) have been torn up to disconnect sewer lines. The new owners have reportedly said they have plans to build townhomes on the site once the existing building is demolished.
Restored 2005, Demolished 2014
Taking away a big number on Montrose, and these little numbers around town:
Sure, set your sights on these small fry, but there’s no telling what we could blow up if we put our minds to it.
