River Oaks Shopping Center could be on Weingarten's *hit-list

Many tenants of the River Oaks Shopping Center have been slowly let in on a growing probability: the demolition of initially two parts of the complex - first of which is the northeast corner of the center at Shepherd and West Gray, designed by Hugh Potter, and constructed beginning in 1937. The second is our favorite theater in Houston, the River Oaks (2009 West Gray), which was opened in 1939 and is run by Landmark Theatres (known for playing first-run independent and foreign films). Where else can you see Sixteen Candles and Strangers With Candy back to back?!

There are no plans in writing, but according to the Chronicle article:

Archway is located near the River Oaks Theatre on the south side of West Gray. At a meeting with the gallery's owners in March, a Weingarten's leasing agent detailed the company's plans to tear down their entire building — including the theater — in early 2008, Archway co-owner Marsha Harris said.

And for what? A residential highrise in place of the theater ("possibly preserving part of the theater's exterior, but none of its art deco interior" - well whew!), and a multi-story Barnes and Noble on the corner. Of course, if there's a new bookstore there, that opens up the possibility of the demise of the Alabama Bookstop, owned by Barnes and Noble, and where the land happens to be owned by Weingarten as well.

To make things worse, Weingarten apparently hasn't met inquiries by the Greater Houston Preservation Alliance with much enthusiasm, and along with Barnes and Noble are keeping quite mum on the matter. We can only hope now that the bulldozers won't arrive in the wee hours of a Monday morning (a la Spire Realty and their ingenious move to turn the historic William Penn Hotel into a surface parking lot).

You can contact Weingarten Corporate Headquarters' executive offices via email or telephone to chime in and help protect another endangered Houston landmark.

Photo: Flickr user narrazione