September 1993 GHPA Newsletter

Page 1

For Preservation NewsCetter of the Greater Mouston preservation A((iance

I VOWME9,NUMBER3

~,I993

Historic preservation, Houston style Despite City Council's June vote to extend the moratorium on demoli s hing hi storic buildings. as thi s issue of For Presamtion was going to press. local preservationists were stunned when the city of Houston razed the II O-year-old Bums Building in the Main Street/Market Square Nationa l Register Historic District on August 25 with a swift dispatch rarely observed in our munici pal bureaucracy. One of numerous Houston examples of demolition-by-neglect, the three-story building had suffered a partial collapse of one wall the previous day, spilling loose bricks on several cars in an adjacent parking lot. City emergency personnel and a dangerous buildings team moved in, barricaded traffic from all directions. and officially classified it a dangerou s building, thu s removing it from the protection of the demolition moratorium ordinance. A request earlier thi s year by preservationists to the City to add penalty provisions to the moratorium extension ordinance for illegal demolitions and for cases of demolition"byneglect such as this one had been rejected. According to a June 3 report in the Houston Chronicle, " Mayor Bob Lanier said he is no t convinced the city needs to increase such efforts ... [and] was tepid at weseI.Yalio uis ts' suggestion the city could be more aggressive."

Looking East: Houston's heritage corridor project by Guy Hagstette On June 18 Mayor Bob Lanier unveiled Houston's Heri{age Corri-

dor, {he Buffalo Bayou East Sector Redel'elopmenr Plan, the result of two years of extensive work by the East End Chamber of Commerce and the Buffalo Bayou Partnership. The plan presents a vision for fulfilling the potential of East End areas through neighborhood revitalization, economic development. historic preservation, environmental planning. public art and communitybased design. The two end points of the project are Allen's Landing, Houston's original port, and the turning basin six miles east down the

bayou. Included within these boundaries are Houston's East End, parts of the Fifth Ward, Second Ward and downtown. In contrast to many previous plans for Houston's development, the Heritage Corridor Project begins with history. The events recounted in this current plan are more than the history of a few of the city's older neighborhoods, they are the defining historical events of Houston itself. Based upon extensive research by Janet Wagner of J. K. Wagner and Company. Inc., the Heritage Corridor Project report is required reading for so many of us who know too

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Gable Street Power Plant, site of a proposed museum highlighting energy, technology and industrial history of Houston.

little about Houston's rich past. This knowledge of our heritage imbues the plan and the area with a richness of spirit and the area with a sense of place so often lacking in similar planning documents. Buffalo Bayou, named the "Highway of the Republic" by early Texans, forms the framework upon which are hung a wide range of initiatives and recommendations that include the potential of the bayou to serve as an open space recreation corridor, and a reminder of old industrial Houston through the renovation of industrial sites along its perimeter. The plan proposes to use the bayou as a greenbelt system. which Mayor Lanier observed can equal that of any city in the world. Although the concept of the bayous-asemerald-necklace greenbelt is not new (although it has been persistently ignored), the plan expands this concept beyond that of an expendable piece of municipal jewelry, by recognizing that Buffalo Bayou is Houston's historical heart and soul, the very foundation for the city's prosperity, and continued health as a livable community. As project planning consultant John Rogers, AlA, says "The project links the city's historic and modem ports along a fascinating corridor rich in cultural and industrial history." Additional recreational easements, park land and trails are all proposed for the bayou as well as a series of "rails-to-trails" corridors, which will take advantage of the many abandoned railroad rights-of-way to link neighborhoods together, to downtown, and to other greenbelts along Brays Bayou. But the true ambitions of the plan are contained in the recommendation to create an urban interpretive and cultural corridor similar to the many successful national and state parks that highlight the industrial and cultural heritage of cities in the Northeast. This concept COlllil1lfCliillSiC/c

Facade block grants by Danni Sabota The face of the Market Square Historic District is changing because three small area business owners have received a total of $15,000 in matching grants, to be used for facade restoration work, from the Houston Endowment, a fund established by Jesse H. Jones. Bart Truxillo, long-time owner of the Magnolia Building, received a $4,000 grant for his structure that has anchored the area's preservation efforts since 1968; Neil Sackheim and Randy Pace, co-owners of Carter & Cooley Deli, have been awarded $7,800 for the massive exterior redo project of the Brashear Building, and Sheldon Epstein. owner of Crown Jewelers, received a $3,200 grant for facade work on the Byrd's Building. "We believe in historic preservation, especially in this part of town," explains Ann Hamilton, grant officer with Houston Endowment, "After all, Mr. Jones built most of it.路' The $15,000 in grants was originally given to the Downtown Houston Association-to be administered through the Market Square Historic District Project-as part of an effort to save the cratering Kennedy Corner Building in 1991. Unfortunately, however, the building owner demolished Kennedy Comer before a buyer could be found or the grant application could be fully processed. Despite the demolition, Houston Endowment awarded the money anyway, directing its use for facade restoration on other eligible structures within the district. Each grant recipient has already mapped out uses of the funds. Truxillo plans to repaint his Buffalo B.ayou-side building and repair the original cypress windows. The Magnolia Building was once part of the 20-acre complex that had been designed by architect Eugene Heiner for the Houston Ice and Brewing Co.

''I've been working in historic preservation for 25 years, and this is the first time I've ever gotten anything like this," Truxillo admits. "It takes extra efforts and funds to do special things like this to a historic building." Sackheim and Pace have a $100,000 job ahead of them to resuscitate their deli's ornate facade, an artful creation also by architect Heiner. It is the only remaining building in the city with its cast iron facade intact, which consists of the columns and upper cornices. Their portion of the grant will also go to painting and repairing windows. but Pace and Sackheim also recently received a $75,000 facade grant from the City of Houston through its Community Development Block Grant Funds. "The spirit in this area is improving dramatically," Sackheim contends. "And with that spirit comes continued inside

City Council approves demolition moratorium extension by David Beale Houston preservationists breathed a lillie easier after City Council acted on Wednesday , June 2, to extend the moratorium on the demolition of most historic buildings in Houston for at least another five months. The Council chamber was well stocked with GHPA representatives, and after listening to preservationist speakers Minnette Boesel, Tim McAuliffe, Neal Sackheim. Jamie Mize, Anna Mod, GHPA Secretary Betty Chapman, and GHPA president Barry Moore, City Council voted unanimously to extend the demolition moratorium until December 31. 1993 or until the effective ('oillillll(,(/ il1.1'i(/('


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September 1993 GHPA Newsletter by Preservation Houston - Issuu