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Tag: Galveston
TRYING TO PRESERVE PRESERVE LAND A year and a half after Hurricane Ike, what’s going on with Marquette Investments’ “The Preserve at West Beach” development plan for a huge chunk of Galveston’s West End? Here’s an update on a piece of it: “Last year, the environmental group Artist Boat applied for $11 million in federal Hazard Mitigation Grant Program money to buy 343 acres of bay-front land from developer Marquette Land Investments. Gov. Rick Perry rejected the application, even though island leaders and environmentalists flooded his office with e-mails, letters and faxes urging him to save one of the island’s most ecologically diverse tracts. . . . Now, Artist Boat and the city of Galveston are working together to secure a $3 million Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program grant, administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. The grant application was submitted Thursday. . . . [Artist Boat Executive Director Karla]Klay said the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association will announce the winners of the grant within six to nine months. Darren Sloniger and his partners at Marquette agreed to provide $3 million in matching land value if Klay and the city get the grant. If that happens, the city would hold the title to one-third of the 343-acre site, which sits east of 11 Mile Road and north of Settegast Road. Marquette intended to turn the site into a 35-acre marina and residential subdivision. The property is part of a 1,058-acre development that will include a 15-story resort hotel, 4,000 condominiums and houses and an 18-hole golf course.” [Galveston County Daily News]
This is it — the 1870 building where Galveston County’s Treasurer uncovered a hidden treasure of more than 100 unused old-growth pine and cypress windows dating from about 1900 above a false ceiling in the third-floor loft he’s renovating. The Magale Building at 2311-2315 Strand in Galveston was likely a window and door store and warehouse at one time, the Galveston Historical Foundation’s Matt Farragher told Galveston County Daily News reporter Hayley Kappes. That Strand neighborhood was once the city’s hardware district.
Kevin Walsh bought the loft not long after Hurricane Ike — from someone who’d lived there for 30 years. He found the windows when he ripped out the ceiling late last year.
Walsh, a CPA, also serves on the finance committee of the Galveston Historical Foundation; he’s already donated the windows to the non-profit organization. They’ll eventually go on sale at the foundation’s architectural salvage warehouse on 23rd St.
COMMENT OF THE DAY: READY FOR A FLOOD OF GUESTS “The Tremont House issued the following statement on this incident:As reported by the Galveston Police Department, there was an unfortunate incident on Saturday at The Tremont House which resulted in some slight damage to the hotel. Although the hotel still has two guest rooms out of service, the general operation of the hotel has not been disrupted. The hotel is currently determining the final cost of damages but estimates are approximately $25K, significantly lower than initial estimates. The hotel is operating as usual and is taking reservations for the upcoming Mardi Gras celebration including its 26th Annual Mardi Gras Ball scheduled on Saturday, Feb. 13. . . .” [Christine Hopkins, commenting on We Shall Rebuild! The Great Downtown Galveston Hotel Flood of 2010]
Disaster is no stranger to Galveston’s historic Tremont House hotel. Opened in 1839, the original building was destroyed by fire in 1865, but rebuilt 7 years later. That second building was ravaged by the Great Galveston Hurricane of 1900 and eventually torn down in 1928. The latest incarnation of the Tremont House, which opened in 1985 in a dry-goods building at at 2300 Ship’s Mechanic Row that had been built 106 years earlier, flooded extensively during Hurricane Ike.
And now, just 7 months after reopening, the Tremont House has flooded again. The damage this time, however, came from an unruly and apparently intoxicated guest in town for a wedding, who — according to police — ripped a water pipe out of the wall:
The leaking water pipe caused extensive damage to three rooms, according to police statements. There also was damage to the hotel’s kitchen and employee cafeteria below, [Galveston police captain Jeff] Heyse said.
“Staff indicated the water was shut off but had already drained into freezers and other electronic equipment, which malfunctioned as a result,†Heyse said in a statement. “Numerous ceiling tiles, flooring and walls were affected by the water.â€
Hotel staff estimated damage at $100,000, including “irreplaceable items,†but a police report didn’t list what those items were, Heyse said.
- Tremont House torrent causes $100,000 in damage [Galveston County Daily News]
Photo of Tremont House Hotel, 2300 Ship’s Mechanic Row: Rasmus Lerdorf [license]
Attorney and real estate investor Scott Arnold tells the Chronicle‘s Harvey Rice he’s got a new idea for the pier site of Galveston’s Balinese Room, famously washed away by Hurricane Ike:
Arnold is considering filling the Balinese Room’s spot on the sea wall with an icehouse made of shipping containers topped with a pavilion formed of steel masts, sails and canopies. He calls the concept America’s Icehouse.
Arnold intends to rebuild the Balinese, possibly inland, but he’s not sure when. “I’ve got a busy life,” Arnold says. “I’ve got to clear enough space out of it to start that project.”
When he does, he intends to be faithful to the original decor.
Arnold says he’s already renegotiated the property’s lease with the General Land Office, and that it now covers 130 ft. of beach frontage.
- Riding on the waves of change [Houston Chronicle, via OffCite]
Photo of Former Balinese Room site at 21st St. and Seawall Blvd.: Flickr user still_crazy
COMMENT OF THE DAY: WHAT’S GALVESTON GOT THAT HOUSTON DOESN’T? “Interesting that two nearby residents both say that the old Tudor at 1212 Hyde Park was not salvageable. I’m sorry that it became a home for crackheads and that it was neglected for so long, but I have real trouble believing that it was not salvageable. I’ve seen too many historic houses in Galveston that are older than this one and worth less than this one restored and put on display in home tours. I’ve seen burned-out, collapsed, flood-damaged houses which looked far, far worse than 1212 Hyde Park rebuilt in Galveston, many times. I don’t really think the economic conditions, pre-Ike, were all that much better on Galveston. What’s the difference? A city government that is actually committed to preserving historic houses? I’m actually serious about that question.” [marmer, commenting on Swamplot Price Adjuster: Last Resort in Montrose]
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:
DOWNSIZING THE GALVESTON CHURCH Archbishop Daniel DiNardo details the demo list: “The St. Therese of Lisieux mission building on the Bolivar Peninsula already has been demolished. The new plan adds Our Mother of Mercy church, also on the peninsula, to the list to be torn down. Members of Our Mother of Mercy’s congregation, who have opposed the archdiocese’s plans through litigation, said via e-mail Monday that the church’s fate was still to be decided. They said there would be a mediation session on the issue Friday. Ancillary buildings, but not the main church structures, will be removed at both the Holy Rosary and Sacred Heart campuses. The lot and buildings at Reina de La Paz are slated to be sold. The buildings that comprise the St. Peter the Apostle site are all to be either destroyed or sold. Historic stained glass windows, sacred statues, artwork and other items of architectural or symbolic interest will be preserved, Auxiliary Bishop Joe S. Vasquez said. ‘The church intends to keep them. We won’t throw them away or sell them, and will reuse them locally if possible.’†[Galveston County Daily News]
Those rumors earlier this summer that Galveston’s Flagship Hotel would soon be sold to an unnamed buyer didn’t pan out. And now it looks like Landry’s Restaurants may also be backing away from its earlier backup plan to tear down the hotel and build a “pleasure pier” in its place. A Landry’s official tells the Galveston County Daily News‘s Laura Elder the company now plans to repair and reopen the hurricane-ravaged hulk-on-a-pier at 25th Street and Seawall Blvd.:
The city built the Flagship in 1965 as a show of confidence after Hurricane Carla struck the coast.
If Landry’s developed an entertainment complex, it would return the 25th Street pier to its roots. In 1943, the city built the Galveston Municipal Pleasure Pier.
At 1,130 feet long, the pier held a dance hall, a 2,000-seat open air arena, restaurants and concessions, according to the “Galveston Architecture Guidebook.â€
Landry’s officials declined to divulge what their specific plans were.
The company is assessing the price of repairs, [Landry’s VP Steve] Greenberg said.
- Repairs, amusement rides planned for Flagship [Galveston County Daily News]
- Previously on Swamplot: Roller Coaster on the Pier: Crunch Time for the Flagship Hotel
Photo: Ellen Yeates
ROOTING OUT THE BROADWAY OAKS The 510 dead oak trees that line Broadway get a week’s reprieve, as Galveston’s oak-removal extravaganza continues: “State officials have said they want new trees planted along Broadway in the same spots as their predecessors to maintain the 100-year-old patterns of the plantings. But forestry experts warn that planting new trees in holes surrounded by webs of existing roots could choke them off and kill them. The city’s tree committee hopes to start planting trees along other roadways in November, but with all of the approvals and agreements needed for planting around Broadway, the historic boulevard could stay bare for another year, Cahill said.” [Galveston County Daily News; previously on Swamplot]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: THAT WAS MY HOME TOO “The pool was designed in the shape of our scotch terrier head. We moved in shortly after my father,Sam Maceo died. My brother, Sam, my sister Sedgie, my mother and I moved to New Orleans in 1954, when my mother remarried. The house looks great. The wall coverings have changed, but much is still the same. Years ago my mother told me that the building cost in 1951 was aprox. $500,000. I don’t know if that is accurate, but what woud that be in today’s dollars?” [Edward Maceo Plitt, commenting on The Balinese Room After-Party Pad: A Little Palm Springs in Galveston]
Note: Story updated again below.
Cribbing from Ellen Beasley and Stephen Fox’s Galveston Architecture Guidebook, Modern architecture fan Ben Hill writes in to tell us that “one of the most important houses in this part of Texas,” was recently put up for sale:
This is the only house in the greater Houston area designed by E. Stewart Williams of Palm Springs, CA. Williams designed Sinatra’s house there, and this house was built for Sam Maceo, owner of the Balinese Room in Galveston.
The home fits into two curvy streets at the center of Cedar Lawn. Its uh, “nightclub” pedigree is maintained by a circular drive with a low-slung porte-cochere in front and the swanky pool in back. And in between?
How’d that Granddaddy of all aqua-toned beach houses in Lafitte’s Cove stand up to Hurricane Ike? Joni Webb — who after Verandah magazine is perhaps the home’s greatest fan — shows off some recent pics of the once-grand weekend showcase on her blog, Cote de Texas:
It is here, today, almost a year after Ike, still languishing empty and neglected – a sort of sad, upscale Grey Gardens of Galveston. I’m not sure why it hasn’t been repaired – it all seems like minor, superficial damage, certainly nothing on a par with the slaughter of the Live Oaks going on uptown. But, still, the house has been left to the elements – something that on the beach should always be avoided. Maintenance is a must in the salt air. A loyal Cote de Texas reader happened upon the Aqua House and took new pictures for me.
The home, decorated in all its much-copied aqua glory by Houston designer Babs Watkins, was sold by a later owner shortly before the hurricane hit last year. And then?
NO MERCY FOR GALVESTON STREET TREES Hundreds of Galveston residents have been calling the city’s tree-appeal hotline, arguing that particular street trees targeted in the massive post-Ike chainsaw sweep should not be cut down. After seeing new leaves on the 3-story Live Oak in front of his Avenue L home, one resident offered the city $1,000 not to chop it down. His tree got a re-evaluation, but didn’t exhibit enough new growth to get a reprieve. “If the city could give the trees more time to recover, and if it rained soon, a few more might stand a chance of survival, [Texas Forest Service urban forester Pete] Smith said. But the city will get reimbursed only for the expensive removal process through Sept. 12. Between now and then, crews are scheduled to remove an estimated 11,000 trees in the public right of way and about 30,000 trees on private property. Live oak tress must have at least 30 percent of their leaves to be spared. Other varieties must have at least 50 percent of their leaves.” [Galveston County Daily News]