GovernorAggie

I thought I read somewhere that the existing one is being remodeled--floor by floor.

You can clearly see the crane for it now from the freeways as well.

Starting with nate's! lol, j/k Seriously, it's a crying shame that everything in Houston seems to come down to "how much money can be made off this". Oh well, such is life in my adopted hometown.

And it's hilarious!

Count me in supporting a coffee/cafe-type facility in a library. It could easily work in leased space inside the library or attached to it--purposefully away from the kids' collections. I also trust adults not to be so clumsy and spill liquids on priceless writings--which area and should be kept and not allowed out of specific areas anyway. A general collection book that has coffee spilled on it can be billed to that person--or maybe I trust people too much.

Any guesses on height. I'm no expert but judging by the number of floors and that "crown", is 450' a close-enough rough guesstimate? Also, I guess this can now go into our Google-Earth HAIF edition, right? I think the tower is along Caroline.

As an aside, I've met and played a few good games of Risk against one of sons of the Levine (pronounced La-VEEN) family, founders and owners of Family Dollar. Due to his humility and average-guy persona (not to mention his gracious acceptance of world domination at my hands), you wouldn't know the guy was an heir to a multimillionaire. They consider one of my former roommates as one of their own sons.

I saw the fountains along what will be the model boat pond being tested Saturday night. The lighting is amazing. Speaking of lighting, the new lighted walkway that was Crawford Street will be an amazing entryway to the Hilton Americas and Toyota Center.

I agree with the color of brick. The mixture of it and the glass serves the area well--not to mention the height. Coming from Rockets games, it's neat to hear people's reactions (if any) to both 1PP and Discovery Green.

I think they've long started on this one. They were seeking help from the public for pictures of what the stained glass ceiling may have looked like originally, IIRC.

A country mile!

It was cool being able to see the lights from 1PP on the Gulf Freeway inbound last night. It really is beginning to make a mark on the skyline! It, Discovery Tower, MainPlace, 6HC, La Quinta, and Embassy Suites will make a nice impression on that side for skyline shots...especially from 59.

That could possibly be the Fannin bridge. The San Jacinto one looks a lot more "square". Count me in with those who can vouch for the impressiveness of this thing in person. Wow. Just wow.

Given MainPlace's official groundbreaking on Earth Day in April, 6HC in March, and possible groundbreakings for La Quinta, Embassy Suites, Discovery Tower, and throw in the proposed Convention Hotel and East Downtown could have a lot of cranes in the air by maybe next summer (2009).

I would rather the Rodeo update Reliant Arena and allow to Dome to become something more than just another "multi-use facility" that would be a place to really brag about, even if its just to our family members who visit. Throw in the fact that apparently Houston is going t submit another DOA application for the Super Bowl that will be the most technically superior (liek Houston's applications for large events ALWAYS are) and used to squeeze what can be had from cities like Miami, New Orleans, and Tampa.

One word, three letters....W, O, W!!!!!!! As far as the size, I'm sure some of our experts can help with that.

Got a look at the bridge work over San Jacinto last night (street was closed). It was AMAZING! It gives a whole new feel to that part of downtown. I knew this project would have great potential, but that structure alone what really raised my confidence level!

Maybe not quite...the Arizona Cardinals new stadium actually has indoor tailgating space IIRC. Maybe that's what the top level is for, part-time. I didn't like the idea of converting the Dome to a massive parking garage alone, but if a few levels of parking are built into it with other uses on top, then maybe that could be something to look at. The museum, event/exhibition space, and other things could maybe sit on top of say 7 levels of parking. However, getting out of a parking garage that size after an event would be a not-so-nice endeavor IMO. If the hotel falls through, I still prefer the museum idea. I would think the Dome has enough space on the inside to make it a one of a kind sports museum (which has been mentioned before) but complete it scale replicas (a la big league dreams in League City) of the old Houston stadiums like where the Buffalos played and even a modern scale replica of Minute Maid. For the indoor teams, an actual scale replica of the Rockets, Comets, Cougars, etc. courts and the Aeros ice could be put in. Each scaled playing surface could also be the exhibits of those teams (for example how many current Houstonians who may be Northern transplant hockey fans know that Gordie Howe, one of the greatest hockey players ever, played for and has his jersey retired with the Aeros?) Another museum idea is to divide the Dome into levels and have sort of a Houston through time kinda thing, complete with the prehistoric days of what the area we know as Houston was like ages ago (it might actually have to be an underwater exhibit). There can then be a scale diorama of the battle of San Jacinto on another level, and then sort of a progression through time from 1836 to now, complete with scale models and old photographs such as of Main Street in the say, 1920s-1940s, what we now know as Uptown in 1960. I think that people would be amazed to actually get a visual representation of how much this city has changed in such a short time, and it could spur visits to other attractions here that most people may not think to look at, such as the free tour given by the Port, the San Jacinto Monument, everything done by famous Houstonians such as Jesse Jones, Howard Hughes (who most Americans may not know was a Houstonian), and so on. There could also be a section on famous Houstonians past and present (I mean how many people know that "Claire Huxtable" is a Houstonian?), and major contributions that Houston has made to the world, such as space travel, medical breakthroughs, energy, and anything else that can be attributed to the city. There could even be a "Hillcroft Ave" concept food court--since Hillcroft is one of the most diverse streets in town (given a Chron article some years ago that said that one can drive through 8 countries on Hillcroft) Lastly, I personally think it would be kinda neat to see exhibits linking the names we hear so often today with the people or things they were named after such as Westheimer, Kirby, Travis, Fulton, Harrisburg, Scott, Cullen, Bissonet, Gessner, Hardy, etc. Just who were these people and what did they do to get streets named after them? Who was Harris County named after? Who is Sam Houston (aka the only person to ever be governor of two different states)? Then again all these ideas could be dumb as a sack o' nickels

I realize that. What I meant was something other than the Brookfield Propoerties/6 Houston Center/Discovery Tower/Hines interest on Main/La Quinta/Embassy Suites rumors/proposals/plans that have been brought forth already. Like a real project confirmation for Houston City Centre (besides just a nice graphic) would be nice.

EngCONS (and anyone else who may want to answer this), Just two questions... 1. Have you heard of anything at this or a comparable scale for Downtown? 2. Have you heard of anything for Downtown. No details needed, I'd just like to know if there's anymore besides the pending ones (i.e. Brookfield's two plots and Hines' alleged interest in the old Shamrock block). If it even only halfway materializes (40 and 25 stories), it would still be great. I just hope that Downtown begins to see more movement from the hype factory. Thanks a bunch!

Hmmm, how about a "Super CVS" or "CVS Signature" or "CVS Select"??

I think it's just gonna plow through there. Remember, this is HCTRA's project, so Westbury residents may as well just be complaining to a brick wall. IMO, public involvement may be non-existent at its worst and begrudgingly sparse at best. Hopefully, they may at least reconfigure the street to where S. Post Oak acts as feeders to the new tollway.

That might be the case from street level, but I saw it from the upper levels of the GRB and they've already laid a lot of grass.

I would agree with this and follow it up with "at certain times for people with certain income levels." On a side note, I've seen (somewhere but can't remember) that the tolls on the Katy Tollway could go up to $5-$6 in the peak hour. I think that is what the cap was set to be in the agreement with TxDOT or something. A $6 toll goes to the notion of the "Lexus Lane", but you'll always hear managed lane and congestion pricing advocates use the day care example. In other words, a mom (or dad) running late picking a child up from daycare would be more than willing to pay the $6 to use the managed lanes instead of the $1 per minute late fee at their day care. I think a tollway in California may go all the way to about $9 for a toll. Keep this in mind when you see "managed lane" or "HOT" lane projects listed for the area.

Am I the only one concerned that the private entity is "nonliable" in the cleanup effort?