Jump to content

liammclaren

Full Member
  • Posts

    157
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by liammclaren

  1. I like the old YMCA building, and I understand that the Y wants a new building, and it's great that they are building it on a parking lot.

    Too bad the new owners can't find a way to use the old building rather than tearing it down. Hopefully it won't become a surface lot or sit around empty like the Savoy and Days Inn and Central Bank buildings... :(

    I took an involved tour of it years ago when I was in college and needed a job, so I applied to be its "night watchman." It's absolutely huge, much larger than it looks. I remember seeing the old raquetball courts filled with junk, mostly in the dark. Slightly strange to see. As I recall there are large portions that aren't even used at all. I also wish somebody would find a use for it rather than tear it down. But in Houston, the thinking is that if it's not new, it sucks. It's in the water in this town, and it's very frustrating.

  2. No wonder. I just can't imagine paying that much plus .39 cents a month per square foot maintinence. The people who buy these things must be financial imbeciles. Even if you are super rich why would you just throw money away for no reason? You can get a townhouse in the same area for half the price per square foot with a lower maintinence fee, a private garage and it doesn't take an elevator ride to get outside.

    When I first moved to Houston I looked at getting into a high-rise and just couldn't make financial sense out of it. Who buys these things?

    Couldn't agree more. I've never understood why some people think it's "upscale" to live in a filing cabinet. But hey, more power to them.

  3. I've lived in Houston for about 15 years now, all over the city. Now I'm thinking of moving downtown, and was wondering about the Franklin Lofts, renting, that is. There are a couple on HAR and they look nice. Anyone know anything pro or con about them?

  4. Today's Chronicle had a local area magazine advertising the new Gringo's coming to Shadow Creek Ranch. Any idea where it will be located?

    I also know that Pappas owns land on 288 & Cr59, but more and more I hear the rumour that finally they will be moving ahead with building a restaurant. It will be a Pappasitos, but I wonder if they have plans also for a Pappadeaux or Pappas BBQ. Any idea on timing?

    Taco Cabana on west Broadway is almost ready. I guess my days of relying only on Whataburger & Ihop at 2-3 a.m. are almost over.

    Can't happen soon enough, as far as I'm concerned. Dining options out here are pretty bad. Any pappas restaurant would work for me.

  5. It's sad, very sad, sometimes, to see a spot of bare ground where a nice hotel once stood.

    My memories of the old Astrodome Marriott include meeting a lot of pro baseball players in town to play the Astros. Back in the 60s and 70s, visiting teams stayed at that Marriott, and I frequently encountered them there on Saturday mornings when I went to get a haircut at the hotel barbershop.

    I once spent a very enjoyable hour there visiting with Yogi Berra, manager of the NY Mets at the time. He came in for a shoe-shine, but he had so much fun shooting the bull with me and the others in the shop he lost track of the time and was almost late for an interview at one of the TV stations. Yogi is one of the nicest, most unpretentious and down to Earth celebrities I've ever met. And he's not the amiable dummy a lot of people think he is.

    I had a similar experience with Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, when I interviewed them in their suite at the Astrodome Marriott one day in the late sixties. They were in town to be the headline guests at the Livestock Show and Rodeo, and the words "nice", unpretentious", and "down to Earth" also apply to them.

    I had them to myself for an hour. No PR people, no handlers, just Roy, Dale, and me, getting the most enjoyable and memorable interview of my entire life, and having the time of my life talking with one of the most famous and most loved show business couples in the country. I'll never forget how Dale kept bustling around in the kitchenette keeping our coffee cups full, while sharing stories of their lives and careers.

    I have a lot of regrets, but losing the tape of that interview is one of my biggest, and as a radio reporter, I didn't think to bring a camera. As someone who grew up with their movies in the 40s and their TV show in the 50s, I wept genuine tears when they passed away.

    Today I can look down at that bare spot of ground in that photograph, where that hotel once stood, and say I had some very very nice times there, once upon a time. So sad.

    Fascinating post. Posts like that are why I come to this site.

×
×
  • Create New...