Purpledevil

Oh you can't forget about the Montrose IHOP on Richmond, mkultra. Wobbled into that place many a time.

Unfortunately, it doesn't look good for St. Joe's. My neighbor's son is in the process of clearing out all of the furniture in one of the buildings. Don't know the entirety of the situation, but the City was about to start citing the hospital due to the specific building being closed and basically abandoned. He has brought home several desks chairs, TVs, a refrigerator, etc. over the last week or so. From what my neighbor has told me, this is being done to clear the building out down to the bare walls in anticipation of unloading it altogether. Perhaps that's why the new Sheraton going in at the ol' Holiday/Heaven on Earth building is listed as 801 Calhoun, instead of St. Joe's Pkwy.???

It was never a "mall", more like a glorified strip center. It was built, it didn't last long, and it's still standing across 45 from Greenspoint. Not sure what exactly the center is used for these days, but it opened with great fanfare anchored by Media Play. The shopping center was built in '94 or '95.

At the time period stipulated by the OP, FM 1960 was still lil' old 2-lane Jackrabbit Road @ Kuykendahl, yes?

Some possible activities of interest: http://seniors.meetup.com/cities/us/tx/houston/ http://www.ehow.com/list_6933554_senior-citizen-activities-houston_-texas.html Volunteering opportunities: http://www.memorialhermann.org/give-volunteer/volunteer/ http://www.houstonmethodist.org/giving/volunteer/ http://www.mdanderson.org/how-you-can-help/volunteer/adult-volunteers/index.html Hopefully, that will give you some good ideas moving forward. Also, I would be remiss if I didn't mention my grandparent's church, Baptist Temple. The church (or what's left of it) is on West 20th, across from Kroger. The building is being refurbished, so as a temporary solution they meet for services at the Sheraton Brookhollow. This was a huge church just 20 years ago, with a congregation well over 1,500...maybe closer to 2k. The parishioners dwindled dramatically over the last decade and 1/2, and from what I've seen personally, I think it was actually a blessing to some extent. The church is much more focused on its membership than it once was, and the minister delivers a solid Bible based message. They also do perform community services, visiting the sick, homebound and hospitalized, as well as prayer circles and the like. Best of luck to you, goastros. I certainly hope you find the right fit for the both of you. PD

Edit to add: Could you tell me what denomination of church she typically attended prior to the move, and a few of the things she most enjoys doing? I cared for my grandmother for several years prior to her passing in 2007 and may be able to help find her some more activities that would keep her body activity and her mind sharp, if I were more familiar with what she likes and/or dislikes.

Doesn't like Catholicism, huh? Well, there goes All Saints and Christ the King. Is Lutheran okay? I ask because I would highly recommend Immanuel Lutheran on 15th & Arlington as far as true, straight out of the Bible, preaching. Strong community of parishioners, that are supportive and legitimately care about the community they serve. It's a traditional Lutheran service, nothing real fancy, but IMO, a great place for an older person to go and worship the Lord. I know they do have activities for older members, I just don't know if they take trips and such. If you're looking for a place that does A LOT for the elderly, is your mom open to changing banks? Prosperity Bank on Yale @ 24th has a program called the "Go Club" that has monthly luncheons for the 65+ crowd, game nights, take trips to Louisiana to gamble, sewing clashes, arts and crafts events, and the like. She would have to open an account with the bank to be eligible for the club, but they do have a lot of neat activities that I think and hope your mother in law would enjoy. Anyway, if you're just focused on churches, Immanuel is certainly worth a visit.

Lol, yeah...but it sure looks alot more like home.

1997 or '98. It was right before the turn of the century. The railroad you reference was the Southern Pacific Kenedy Line and went all the way into downtown way back when. I'm old enough to remember it actively reaching as far as Shepherd, in service to some paper company or other type of industry that required boxcar service, because that's all you ever saw on the line. The tracks used to cross Montrose, but that section had long been abandoned once I was of any age. I had an uncle that lived on Sunset Blvd, and it seemed like we'd always catch a train crossing Greenbriar when we'd go to visit him. My brother worked at River Oaks Chrysler Plymouth for many years, and the same line ran right next to the dealership crossing Kirby at grade. The last service that line provided was in 2003, which was storage for the Ringling Brothers Circus train, parked directly across from Compaq Center. Once the circus left the arena, within a month the destruction of the rail lines west of the UP double main next to Fox 26 commenced. If you go by the Central Bank building, next to the McDonald's, you used to be able to see where the line crossed Main, but with the light rail having been constructed, that probably isn't the case anymore.

Very cool. My favorite thing about the Galleria was being a long haired teen, walking through Marshall Field's with a couple of my equally undesirable looking friends in tow, and watching as the old snooty women would stare us down for even having the audacity to walk through their uppity store in route to the new Galleria III. I mean, how dare we! We used to hang out in the parking garage near where Mickey D's & the second theater was. You could still smoke inside back then, just not what we were lighting up, lol.

That's awesome, mollusk. I remember that very sign. We still have a gem or two of those signs here in Houston, that given how Houston has grown seem a little out of place. 2 right off the top of my head are both on FM 525, Aldine-Bender. Coming west from 59 to your right there's a green sign proudly displaying "Aldine-4". At the intersection of 45 & Aldine Bender sits another advising you that Houston is still another 17 miles to the south, and equally as many miles for a visit to Conroe heading north on 45. I mean, I guess it IS 17 miles to City Hall from Greenspoint technically, but it's about time that sign was retired, lol.

That is interesting, Tiger. I've never noticed a lack of a 700 block. As long as they leave 616 alone, I'll be ecstatic. Aw man, got me craving a fried pickle now... Anyway, the original alignment of Farm to Market 1093's (a.k.a. Westheimer Road) western terminus was Farm to Market 3013 in Eagle Lake, Texas. Eastern terminus was the West Loop. Once they cut the Westpark Toll through there, I couldn't tell you where it ends now. The Westheimer name used to drop from the road at FM 1463, not too long before you hit Fulshear. Now, that makes me want to stop in at Dozier's market for some of the best BBQ down here. I wonder if it's even still there? The kids HAVE to be running it by now. Of course, Westheimer has always switched names to Elgin @ Bagby, as far as I go back. We used to use 1093 when making our way to Altair. You'd think 10 would've been faster, but not even close given the headache that was the Katy Freeway.

I guess I may be oversimplifying this, but really, other than pulling out any birds nests that may have found their way into the interior of the clock, replacing the burnt out light bulbs on the face, removing the Central Square letters on the back, greasing the gears and components necessary to make it spin, and slapping a coat of paint on the whole thing, I wouldn't think restoring it would require a crane or anything that dramatic. Heck, secret squirrel was standing right next to it when he explored and documented the building. Given the angle of the pictures he submitted for viewing, a good sized ladder on top of the roof would seem efficient enough to get the job done. I mean, the thing worked right up to the very end of Central's life. I'd think the worst case scenario would be that rust may have locked up the mechanical components necessary for it to rotate again, and perhaps a dry rotted electrical wiring harness that could be rebuilt by a certified electrician fairly efficiently.

I am seriously anticipating the clock being refurbished. It's been some 25 years since I've seen it in action. The building is indeed beautiful, but oh how I wait to see those bright white lights rotating and illuminating the curve on Pierce Elevated again. Well, at least til they tear the Pierce down, lol.

Interesting, Kim's liquor is directly across the street from where the dry line commences at East 26th and Yale. That does make sense, as all the convenience stores have historically been on the east side of Yale, from 20th up to 610. This would explain why.

^ what he said. Cloud, no need to put the word in. I can assure you, my eyes aren't the only pair peering into this thread. I wish I could offer more, but I'm not at liberty to do so. I can assure you that any comments voiced here are most assuredly welcome, desired, and noted. Monarch is spot on, this is a spectacular avenue for feedback that will help the property make the adjustments needed to ensure the most pleasurable stay for all of our guests. Add this with the feedback the property receives from the online satisfaction surveys we send out post stay, and you get a true perspective of what areas are in need of improvement, and what areas are firing on all cylinders. Kylejack, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I wouldn't expect much in the way of improvements to the Battelstein's building on our part. If the property owner would simply give the building a bath, it would be a marked improvement.

That is correct, the hotel is open and is available for booking, however the property has not had its grand opening, nor is it completed. This can be lumped into the reason why the exterior signage has yet to be erected. Battlestein's Department Store is not owned by Marriott, and I have no clue as to what may be transpiring in there. I can tell you that the store WAS used for something else after it closed up as a department store. A club of some sort had either opened up inside of it, or at least made an attempt to do so. I liked the entry way to the store, a beautiful throwback to the glory days of Houston retail, but certainly understand why it would need to be covered up, whether or not plans are being put into place for work to commence on the store.

I work for Marriott corporate, and thank you so much for the kind words. You might find me lurking around any of the area's full service hotels on most any given day, and even a couple of the extended stays. I can't take any credit for how beautiful this turned out, it far exceeds anything I ever expected from the initial renderings. I really struggled with keeping quiet on the gryphon btw, lol. I sure don't want to cross any lines here on the HAIF as far as self promotion, please remove and forgive if so, but I hope you guys will stop by and have a look for yourself, or better yet, have a sales manager show you around. No picture posted here really tells the story of the complete transformation of the Carter building and neighbors. I'll pass along your kind words, monarch, I'm sure it will instill many proud smiles.

Signage to come... Y'all love it now, just wait 'til Christmas....

Ah, I see you've been introduced to one of the Instant Alert Suites. Complimentary service, of course, and so much more convenient than the pesky and outdated wake-up call procedure most hotels currently utilize. Enjoy your stay, and oh by the way, the first aid kit is available at the front desk, for your convenience.

Just an update on 121 Payne. I went to see it Friday night. There is a 2 story addition on the back now, with apparently a 2 car garage built beneath. Also saw that there is a brand new roof on it, new solid glasses where the old cranking windows were, and it appeared that they (or have recently) leveled the support blocks beneath it, and poured new ones as well. It didn't look nearly as bad as the pictures online, up close and personal. Certainly noted that Germantown sure seemed to be much more quiet and serene at night than it used to be just 15 years ago. We were there for a good 20 minutes, and everything surrounding was extremely quiet and peaceful for a Friday night. Glad to have seen the house will not be lost, it sure didn't look promising before. As for Yale, I noticed that Yale Stone has been demoed, apparently this last week. All that sits on that side of the block is Jus' Mac and the abandoned Sunset Heights Food Market (or as we used to call it when it sat on the corner of 26th and Arlington, "the green store"). Looks like this project is moving rather quickly, they were just selling stone materials out of there a few weeks ago!

Yessir, it's not quite the same font(?) as the original word Central. Worse yet, when they replaced the word "Bank" on the clock, they never bothered to paint the clock. I haven't paid attention to the back in a longtime, but it used to have a lablescar that clearly said "BANK" underneath and a little below where the current "Square" part now is affixed. It gets better. If they ever light the clock up, as is, the Square is noticeably brighter than the Central. The time colon was stuck on all the time, regardless of whether it was displaying time or temp, and the below zero "-" next to the temp would come on when the time displayed. That was some 25 years ago now. I can only imagine the problems the clock likely has now after all this time dormant. For all I know, it's rusted solid in place. I haven't personally seen it move in years, and it may very well not do so anymore. I don't remember even Ike moving it from the current position. The clock's face has been towards 45 all of this time. I hope against hope that the developer will go that extra mile and go all in on the restoration of the clock, but common sense tells me that it, like The Savoy sign, is a goner. Edited auto-correct mishap.

Thanks, I remember what it looked like once it was freshly restored after my uncle's passing. They had done a lot of work to the house, even moving the staircase entrance from the corner of the kitchen to the living room up front. That was my favorite part of that house, the room upstairs with the old crank open windows. That would be those three windows up front on the roof. I don't know if they kept the second kitchen behind the second bedroom on the left of the house. Only house I've ever been in that had two full kitchens in it. Of course, that's because the house was originally a duplex. I saw the inspection pictures from a couple of months ago. Absolutely sickening. Here's a story about 121 Payne that NO ONE else can tell. When my great uncle passed away, we began emptying the house in preparation of my Aunt Lena moving to Lufkin. When we pulled the pictures off of the walls, 50+ years of tar had dripped down the walls behind them. It was that very day and that very sight when I decided I would never light another cigarette again. I certainly hope you are right, barracuda. The house is just over a century old now, having been built in 1910. Even in its current state, I'd hate to see it lost, but they were sending letters to my uncle about 45 taking out his house for ROW several years before he died, so at some point it will be inevitabile.

Son of a biscuit! That's my great uncle's house! My family sold it shortly after he passed away in December 2001. To see that picture made my heart drop to my stomach. I can't believe they've let that happen. I can still close my eyes and see the beautiful flower beds he had all around the front yard, and of course, the leaning tin garage in the back. I'm thankful that I am the only one in my family still alive to see what's become of 121 Payne. I'll hunt down some photo album pictures and post what the house USED to look like, in all its red and white glory.

As long as the clock stays, I'm good. Can't wait to see that thing lit up and rotating. The younger crowd has no idea how noticeable and bright that clock was when illuminated. Hopefully, they'll fix it so that the colon doesn't remain lit when it's showing the temperature like it did before it was shut off. The sign on the wall never had the word "Square" that I remember. Like the clock, it said "Central Bank" originally. When it was changed, the word "bank" was removed from both, the clock got an off color labelscar with the word "Square" put in place under "Central", and the wall lost the "Bank" portion and became simply "Central"... ...not that any of that means a hill of beans, lol...