January/February 1981 GHPA Newsletter

PRESERVATION ALLIANCE NEWSLETTER January and February 1981

Officers

Committees

Chairman

Bart Truxillo - 861-6236

First Vice President Sue Collett

- 523-5384

Second Vice President Barry Klein

- 523-1900

Treasurer:

Jane Ohrt

- 629-5238

Secretary:

Beverly Pennington 623-2491

Membership - John Berlinghoff 666-4235 Search & Research " John HcClelland

932-6057

Publicity - Patty Walker

869-8733

CALENDAR OF EVENTS February

9'""

Monthly meeting of the executive board.

The meeting takes place

at noon at the Heritage Society on Lamar and Bagby.

Preservation

Alliance members are encouraged to attend.

February 18:

Monthly dCMTt:own walking tours (30 minutes) starting at Preston and Milam at noon.

Tour guides Bart Truxillo and Beverly Pennington .

Cost $1.00.

February 26:

General Meeting - 7:30 PM @ the Heritage Society across from the }illin Library, Bagby and Lamar Starting in February th ere will be a general meeting on the fourth Thursday of every even numbered month.

(Six meetings per year)

This month there will be a presentation about historic buildings in Houston.

We will then discuss our goals and priorities and

what committees need to be formed to implement these objectives.

Some of the committees to be discussed are: 2)

Newsletter 3)

Revolving Fund 4)

1)

Speakers Bureau

Houston Festival 5)

Meeting

Programs.

This is your city.

Please join us to try and preserve its heritage.

We will be looking for volunteers for our various activities, in particular the Houston Festival.

(See following article)

We have enclosed a questionnaire for volunteers .

If you are i nterested,

please return it to the Preservation Alliance, 1100 Bagby, Houston 77002 or bring it to the genera l meeting.

March 19-29:

Houston Festival This is a ten day festival to celebrate Houston. "It starts on March 19 with the Mayor's International Ball and features indoor and outdoor activities for every taste, age and schedule: art, dance, crafts, theatre, games and food.

Alliance is also doing it part.

music,

The Preservation

There wtll be $1 walking tours of

downtown Houston March 21, 22, 28 and 29 starting at 1 and 3 PM from Preston and Milam. urgently needed.

Tours guides (two or more per tour) are

If you would like to volunteer, call Beverly

Pennington at 623-2491.

Experience is NOT required.

Th ere will be

a training session held on Saturday, Harch 14 at 10:30 Al'1.

We will meet at Preston and Hilam for the session.

The Preservation Alliance will also have a spec ial project to sandblast, paint and clean up one of the historic buildings in ~~rket

Square.

We will have a commercial sandblaster , but lots

of help is needed [or the painting and general cleanup.

To

volunteer call Dallas Hardcastle at 466-5276 or Bart Truxillo at 861-6236 .

PRESERVATION ACTIVITIES A.

Volunteers Meeting A meeting was held at Bart Truxillo ' s house on January 15 to orient new volunteers for the Preservation Alliance .

There was

a wide ranging discussion concerning the goals of the Alliance and how ' to implement them.

If you are interested in attending future

meetings or helping with preservation, please come to any general meeting or call Bart Truxillo at 861-6236 or John Berlinghoff at 871-8000, ex t. 4564 B.

Ratoff Building The drive in facility of the New Texas Commerce Bank Buildin!! is' threatening the existence of the historic Ratoff building.

Ba~t

Truxillo as chairman of the Preservation Alliance, sent a letter to the New York architect, I. H. Pei imploring him to find a way to incorporate the Ratoff building into the new facility.

To

date no response has been received.

C.

"Th e Last of the Past " The Preservation Alliance has received funding from the Cultural Arts Council of Houston to produce a book on Houston architecture from 1847 to 1915.

D.

\~e

hope to have it availab le by summer.

New Convention Center Site Hayor NcConn and city council ;He preparing to fact the decision of whether or not Houston shou ld build a new convention ce nt er and if so, where it should be located.

An engineering firm is conduc-

ting a $65,COO st udy to be finished by mid-Harch comparing the two principal si te locations.

One is a six block tract east of Hain

Street next to the Eastex Free',,路ay that would be donated to the city by its owner Houston Center.

The other site is IOostly city parkland

at Sabine Street on the south side of Hemorial near the Fonde Recreation Center.

This is located directly across from th e "Old

Sixth Ward Historical District".

It is feared that the resulting

commercialization of the area ,;QuId seriously disrupt the character of the sixth ward.

If you are interested in protrcting the Sixth Ward, call Barry Klein at 523-1900 or Jay Hamhurger at 869-0869.

PRESERVATION ORIENTED ORGANIZATIONS IN HOUSTON In each newsletter we will try to include information about other groups that are interested in preserving Houston.

Concerned parties are encouraged to submit

information regarding their group's activities.

Call John Berlinghoff at 871-8000,

ext. 4564 or mail your notice to the Preservation Alliance, 1100 Bagby, Houston, Texas 77002 1.

Heritage Society The Heritage Society is the parent organization for the Preservation Alliance .

The Society operates the "historic buildings that are

located in Sam Houston Park.

2.

For information call 223-8367.

Neartown Association This is an activist group dedicated to preserving Montrose and the Inner City.

3.

For information call David Waller at 520- 6544.

Heights Association The Heights Association is busy trying to

pre~erve

the neighborhood

feel of the Heights without the benefits of zoning or deed restrictions.

It recently acquired two parksites on Heights Boulevard at

7th and 18th streets.

Both sites will be totally furnished and "

maintained by members of the association funded through events' such as the home tours (on Mother ' s Day) and the Heights Festival.

Volunteers and interested contributors are always welcomed.

For

information call Patty I<alker at 869-8733 4.

Sabine Association This organization was established to protect and preserve the Old Sixth I<ard Historical District with one of its tools being a revolving fund.

For information call Barry Klein at 523-1900 .