Comments on: The Wilshire Village Apartments Have Permission for Demolition

By: RWB

RWB — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:16:13 +0000

Shannon: regarding shooting it before it goes (and it was standing when I drove by a couple of days ago). It is surrounded by a chainlink fence topped with barbwire, and is definitely posted “No Trespassing.” When I took pictures, I stayed outside the fence. That said, it is obviously pretty easy to get in because lots of people have–mainly graffiti artists who are using the soon-to-be-destroyed walls to paint big pieces. So if you were willing to risk arrest, you could certainly get inside to photograph the grounds. Getting into individual apartments would be easy, too–many have had their windows removed.

By: tm

tm — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:07:25 +0000

Shannon- I’ve been inside a few times to photograph but I don’t know if I can get you in before they tear it down :(. As for historic houston. It is a shame. They tore out all of the flooring and metal stair rails and stoves. I’m guessing they will be sold as scrap. There are some glass bricks left but not much in good condition. They had groups of men in trucks tearing stuff out over the last three weeks.

By: Shannon

Shannon — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 00:13:28 +0000

This really breaks my heart. I have loved looking at this place for the 5 years I have lived in Houston. I have always always always wanted to photograph it. Anyone know when demolition is actually starting? Anyone know a way to get me in? I really want to shoot this - sad sad days.

By: Hellsing

Hellsing — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 19:43:28 +0000

If anyone knows the Pied Piper, he might have a good gig there. With no tenants/cats/dogs on site, I heard the rats are having a grand old time.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:54:58 +0000

I wonder if there will be any mass exodus of bugs and such that scatter into the surrounding neighborhood? Yikes!

By: jay

jay — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:20:50 +0000

i’ve lived in houston for thirty years and these apartments have always been an eye sore, and more recently a drag on the community. Good riddance.

By: Johnny

Johnny — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:28:55 +0000

Houston still does not realize that to tear down is progress. It is much easier to tear something down than spend the time and money to renovate. This is such a great piece of history as well as architecture, it will be missed.

By: Hellsing

Hellsing — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 13:55:22 +0000

Good grief - I hope anyone frothing over the very existence of Wilshire Village at least puts some newspaper down before fantasizing about the wrecking ball.

By: Carol

Carol — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 23:57:08 +0000

Let’s hope they can salvage the brick before the grafitti gets worse than it already is.

By: SD

SD — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 22:43:31 +0000

I can’t wait to see Wilshire Village historically preserved…in a landfill. sooner the better.

By: kjb434

kjb434 — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 22:42:10 +0000

My parents used of old bricks was a little simpler.

The variation of colors from black, beige, and in between placed randomly made a neat look.

On top of that, when you look at the bricks, you can find imprints of dates, building names, and brick manufacturer from the time.

By: Matt

Matt — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 22:22:08 +0000

The value of older bricks is their size and color and of course the “weathering” that occurs over the years. They are hard to duplicate. Many wealthy people will wait to begin construction of additions to their homes until “matching bricks” are found and the reason why is that by matching the bricks, the additions look as if they were part of the original home. It is not an issue here because here people just tear down the original home in order to build a bigger one. But back East in particular they tend not to do that and prefer instead to add on to the original homes and preserve the historical value of the home as well as the economic value.

That’s why casement windows are valuable since you can’t really duplicate them.

And of course leaded glass windows. Where you can see where the “lead” has “dripped” through the years and created a pattern in the glass in the bottom half of the pane.

Hardwood floors are sometimes not just hardwood floors. And doors are sometimes not just doors.

One home in Fourth Ward that Houston Renaissance demolished had rare pine and oak in its flooring and doors. The demolition of that one house defined for me what historical preservation is NOT in this city and about the commitment of all of the “historical preservationists” and “civic leaders committed to historical preservation” because they all knew about that house and they did absolutely nothing. It wouldn’t have been “politically correct” for many of them - I get ill every time one of them is hailed as a hero of historical preservation.