Last Chance To See 600 sq mi: Hidden
Missed Connections: Gefilte Fish...and "Chain Connections"
H-Town Rock
Rock Talk, Vol. IX
Harry James, the builder we wrote about yesterday, demolished the Doyle house at 945 Heights Blvd. earlier today. KHOU captured an aerial video of the demolition, which comes the day before a protest that was scheduled for tomorrow from 5-6 pm at the house.
The house was over one hundred years old and had been owned by the Doyle family until local builder Harry James purchased it for demolition. Even though several buyers had apparently approached him to sell, his inflated $800 - 900,000 offer (a little under the prices of his "Victorian Classic" builds) were out of their league.
Randy Pace, the city's Historic Preservation Officer, told the Chronicle that the house was eligible for Houston Landmark status, as well as listing in the National Register of Historic Places: "This would make it eligible for a property tax exemptions and discounts on permit fees for restoration. But the owner would need to initiate the application for the listing."
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What a dick.
Once again, greed won over principles. Similar to what Weingarten is doing to the River Oaks Shopping Center/Alabama bookstore. People like this would sell their own children for a buck.
I hope whoever buys the craptastic piece of plastic James builds on that site is forever haunted by the Doyle family. James, too. What a douchebag. Or is it douche bag? Eh.
I'm not sure the Doyle family will do much haunting — they let the house fall to pieces, and then refused to negotiate with anyone who wanted to restore it.
Won't it be nice, though, when Heights Boulevard is filled end-to-end with James's "Victorian classics?"
what a phuck head.
Why, oh why do we sacrifice our history for "progress"? I understand the want to be a hip & happening metro area, but "hip" has many definitions. Erasing our past is not the way to do it. What happened to wanting to preserve, to tell old stories, to see old things? These things give us culture. How long does something have to stand before it's considered a treasure and not a liability?
There are places all over this world (and even in this state) where old and new live right next to each other. Texans are proud to be Texans. If we keep tearing down the things that made us so, then what will have to be proud of?
Another viewpoint for you to ponder:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7512030137262491766