Rendering shown at the groundbreaking for the Memorial Park Pedestrian Bridge, which was initially designed at a Rice Design Alliance Charrette by Clark Condon Associates
Headlines January 24 to 30
I attended the groundbreaking of the Memorial Park Pedestrian Bridge on Friday. It was a glorious day for a good project. I interspersed a few pictures from the event below.
Friday January 30
Lessons from Ike move city forward [Chronicle] “If Hurricane Ike was a learning opportunity, this is what the city of Houston learned: Don’t rely too much on the state. Pinpoint where elderly and sick people live before the storm hits. Buy more generators – lots more. And more fuel to run them.”
ART / One artist responds to Hurricane Katrina / Paul Villinski’s movable exhibit has much to say about surviving natural disasters [Chronicle]
OBITUARY / Marquez, fashion expert, instructor [Chronicle]
Dual spaces, different realities / Optical Project and Bill’s Junk are two art forces [Chronicle] “Even though Optical Pro-ject is a commercial gallery, the paintings made in the shed aren’t for sale because Davenport is trying to arrange their donation to a museum. The stuff in Bill’s Junk is for sale, but whatever folks don’t buy is already destined to be seen in a museum – along with Davenport himself, minding a replica of the store – this summer.”
[Chronicle] “Boy Scouts sell land where they learned / Councils say funds are needed to survive, but critics say they’re picking profit over preservation The Sam Houston Council, for example, sold land from its huge Camp Strake on Lake Conroe in 2007 only after a highway expansion rendered the property unusable, but then put the money into a fund that helps maintain Strake itself.”
Thursday January 29
Bolsover blues / City’s lack of planning loses a street, gains an eyesore. [Chronicle] Stephen Fox weighs in on the Sonoma debacle. “As for the city, while not responsible for the wretched economic climate, it should be held accountable for its handling of this particular transaction. Stephen Fox, a Houston architectural historian, told the Chronicle, ‘It’s the next stanza of the same old song. It’s not just lack of planning, it’s a lack of planning knowledge and experience.’”
SOUTHWEST HOUSTON / Boulders placed in area esplanades / Brays Oaks Management District gets formal dedication [Chronicle] “Installation of the 4-foot-tall boulders began Jan. 22 as part of a $250,000 master plan to beautify the esplanades, increase signage and boost area identify, said Jim Myers, community services director for the district.”
Apartment revitalization benefits area / North Cove has new name, Linda Vista, and a new look
[Chronicle]
High-speed rail idea re-embarking / Trains would link the state’s major cities [Chronicle] “The high-speed trains – with an average speed of 200 mph – would run to airports, allowing rail to work in conjunction with airlines by ferrying in passengers catching longer flights.”
Bike coordinator has desire to put out trail fires / Raine wants input on fixing outdated plan [Chronicle]
Dan Raine owns seven bicycles, and he knows most of the bike routes and trails in Houston as well as anyone because he’s on them all the time. In short, Raine is hard core, exactly the kind of rainmaker the cycling community needs on its side – working from the inside.
After five months on the job as the city’s bicycle-pedestrian coordinator, he’s finally getting his arms around Houston’s 15-year-old comprehensive Bikeway Plan, focusing his attention on figuring out a way to fill in the system’s myriad of gaps and making logistical adjustments for the many changes the city has seen since its conception.
“The problem,” Raine explained, “is that we’re still working off the 1993 plan.”
He said at his meeting with BikeHouston on Tuesday night: “Updating that plan began here tonight.”
REAL ESTATE IN THE HEIGHTS / Style guide available for area homeowners [Chronicle] “Residents seeking to add on, renovate or build a new home in the Heights without fear of going against the area’s prevalent styles can now contact the Houston Heights Association for a copy of A Design Guide for the Houston Heights Historic Districts, a publication of the city of Houston’s Department of Planning and Development that was written and illustrated with photographs of area homes by Heights-based architect Jonathan Smulian.”
Wednesday January 28
Urban Land Institute Honors Discovery Green and Canal Street [Urban Land Institute] Tuesday night New Hope’s Canal Street Apartments was honored by the Houston Chapter of ULI as a 2009 Urban Land Institute “Development of Distinction.” One of the judges, who has served on numerous national and international awards panels for ULI, called Canal “probably the finest example of this type of development that we have seen anywhere in the country.”
[Chronicle] Mayor’s pitch a case of marketing malpractice Rick Casey’s skewers Bill White’s letter promoting One Park Place.
Tuesday January 27
Mayor puts muscle behind 346-unit apartment complex: Letter pushing project draws criticism from watchdogs [Houston Chronicle]
Menil Collection picks architect to design expansion [Houston Chronicle]
City Buys WATERWALL in Galleria [Houston Commercial Real Estate]
Sunday January 25
Courtly days and nights in Midtown [Houston Chronicle] “The building long has been home to dancers and opera singers, artists and architects. They’re drawn to its retro glamour: peeling paint on the walls, arched doorways in the arcade, winding staircases and diminutive iron balconies that look down on the courtyard’s broken-tile mosaic floor. Designed by architect William Bordeaux in 1929, the building is tucked away between Main and Fannin, the apartments sitting above two art galleries and some vacant commercial space.”
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