Last Chance To See 600 sq mi: Hidden
Missed Connections: Gefilte Fish...and "Chain Connections"
H-Town Rock
Rock Talk, Vol. IX
...for demolition
Today, Houston City Council voted to designate the River Oaks Shopping Center, River Oaks Theater, Alabama Shopping Center, and Alabama Theater as historic landmarks, though it will not afford the structures any protection from Weingarten Realty's current and future decisions to demolish them.
According to Historic Houston, there were three dissenting votes from council members Michael Berry (big surprise), Addie Wiseman (who tagged this measure last week), and Pam Holm.
Save Our Landmarks invites folks to attend a gathering at the upstairs bar of the River Oaks Theater this evening at 5pm to celebrate the passing of the measure, and also to discuss more ways to help preserve the remaining structures.
The original ninety day wait on demolition that just ended was initiated when the Houston Archaeological and Historical Commission began the historic landmark designation process, so there will not be another waiting period now that the landmark status is official - Weingarten must now only secure the demolition permit from the city to start up the bulldozers.
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will they be whooping it up? :-)
i love their choice of words :P
Michael Berry is such a little penis.
Isn't this like declaring someone a virgin AFTER the prom?
I hope they have plenty of napkins on hand this evening.
I'm so tired of Houston getting uglier and uglier as every year passes, and watching every building that's got a story and some beauty being torn down for more big box corporate crapola chain stores.
So I'm not going to patronize any store that leases from Weingarten anymore. And any employee of Weingarten can frankly drop dead.
So, why is this a victory if Weingarten can still smash the buildings and build more Starbucks?
I am confused.
i wouldn't really call it a victory, but it makes the shopping center a sort of poster child for preservation - maybe there is also some hope that it will turn the head of someone at Weingarten, but i'm not holding out for that.
historic preservation in Houston is a bit wretched and confusing, indeed.
Cipher, slow down on the boycott there.
The businesses that lease from Weingarten are not complicit in this arrangement. They do not make the decisions on what happens to these shopping centers, and should not be punished because they have an contract with Weingarten.
I think Weingarten is nothing but scum too, but I can't go punishing the businesses that still lease from them to spite that company. Doing so would likely doom what's left of the River Oaks Shopping Center including the River Oaks Theater.
If nothing else, I wish local preservationists would stop wasting time with this lost cause, and concentrate all of their efforts on saving the movie theater. Any effort to save the marked-for-death portion of the center now is nothing but a waste of time.
focusing on this aspect isn't completely a waste of time since it contributes to the visibility of preservation as a whole, but i agree - it is time to step up efforts for the theaters.
as far as not patronizing Weingarten-owned centers, it would be worthwhile to encourage your favorite establishments to consider not leasing from Weingarten in the future.
My dear Urban Houstonian,
A Boycott has already started. None of the retailers in any Weingarten property has longtime security with that company anyway. They'll all have to move out sooner or later. And lowered per square foot sales will mean that either they will negotiate a cheaper lease with Weingarten, or they will move to another location. Houston has an 11% retail vacancy rate. There are plenty of high toned neighborhoods in Houston to find stores to rent.