jfre81

Found this on a little urban expedition of sorts... 1708 N. Main@Harrington. Appears to have been a restaurant and/or bar. Anyone recall what this used to be?

Wow, that half royally sucked. Still not over. Clutch City '09

I just joined, as "jfre81"

The first pictures are along South Main just outside 610, near Willowbend. The first light rail stop is on Greenbriar near Reliant, the Smith Lands station. The next few shots were from the light rail, in the Medical Center and Hermann Park. I got off the rail at the Wheeler station and went over to the Fiesta, then went back and took the rail to Main Street Square station. I walked kind of zigzag through the streets to the northwest, stopping into the Chase Tower for the sky shots, then headed to Franklin Street which becomes Washington Avenue. I went into Old Sixth Ward and walked down Kane Street, then took Sawyer back up to Washington. Continued west on Washington to Studemont. Walked down Studemont which becomes Montrose. Stopped at the 34 bus stop at Bomar. I could've gone much further, but I needed my legs for today (for work). I could've walked all the way back home but I'd need a day of rest after, lol.

I think the whole round trip, getting back home and all, took about four hours. And I was by no means in a hurry. Walking down that part of Studemont where there's next to nowhere to walk was exciting. Everything from Main Street Square to the Bomar@Montrose bus stop was done on foot.

But hey, I made it, so I guess it's "walkable" if you've got mad skillz.

I'll bet, because I walked around and couldn't figure it out. You must have entered through the parking garage as best I can figure. That or you did some climbing, or somebody just straight let you in. And I'm figuring the latter didn't happen. The first picture in your reply to me, is that the older Savoy building? Looks like it, or it's another building that's all caved in on the inside. Got more pictures of the interior of the new building, the one that looks like it's still in good shape? I guess squatterkid looked after it when he was in there. If this recession puts me on my ass I think I'm gonna go live up there. It's probably better than where I am

Ooooh....can I bounce in the bouncy room too? secretsquirrel's gonna have to give me a tour... Looks really clean in there for a building that's been abandoned for >20 years.

I bet from an airplane we'll look like a gigantic graveyard with all these crosses sticking out of the ground. Just beautiful.

It looks more like Oscar the Grouch (minus trash can) wearing a bra on his head to me.

How bizarre must it look to an outsider, who never saw Astroworld, coming to Houston and seeing that empty pedestrian bridge to an empty lot full of weeds? And in that old AW pic - the second one from the left, between the mouse and the rabbit - what the hell is that supposed to be?

In all its glory... Yes, that is very professional-looking, isn't it? I do wonder what this will look like when (if, I probably should say) it's reopened.

I might be game for that. I've been wanting to explore more of the East End anyway...

What is the big deal with the service facility anyway? How is that out of place there? I hope everyone understands that the whole East End has pretty much been an industrial/blue collar area for generations. And suddenly they're too good for a maintenance shed? Spare us. Isn't this basically over there on Harrisburg by Thunderbolt and the RR tracks and whatnot? I can understand why some people scared of being gentrified out would oppose the rail line, but I don't understand the problem with this facility. Yes, it could go over in the Hardy Rail Yards, but when the rail system gets big enough there will probably need to be more than one service facility. It makes sense to have one there. Isn't the Hardy Rail Yards where the Intermodal station is supposed to be?

I'm not a huge fan of the building aesthetically - even spruced up it's just too big and kills a great view of the skyline behind it looking from the SW on the ground - and wouldn't be so hurt to see it come down. But if they can get it in shape (that could actually be cheaper nowadays) and price the rooms right I think this project can succeed. There are some nice views up there and it's still just a block away from the rail while also being accessible to Midtown. It's preservation, FWIW. Now that it looks like something is happening with this, if it succeeds it gives hope to some other older DT buildings (including hotels) that need a little TLC....what if, say, having a new rail line along Texas spurs interest in bringing the Ben Milam back to life?

Well to be fair I wasn't expecting this to turn the Houston skyline into Dubai or anything....it's indeed closer to 10 though.

It would be cool if they could at least redo the roof, shore up the walls, gut the interior, put up a couple support columns as needed and make it a sort of museum to modern downtown's history as being basically the whole of old Houston. I think the Savoy Apartments were on what was then the "edge" of town more or less in 1909. Pictures, artifacts, perhaps pieces of old historic buildings that didn't make it through the *progress* - pictures, maps, you name it. I can dream, anyway. The new Savoy would require the asbestos to be removed for demolition, but it seems to be in generally good shape from the outside. I wish I could check out the inside. sevfiv's brochures seem to make it out to have been a rather nice place in its day. I sorta tried looking for a way in (or at least to see inside without necessarily entering) but it appears the owners might have caught wind of the squatterkid's conquests here and turned it into a regular Fort Knox. Can't really see anything inside at all anymore. The window facing Main with "1616" is busted out, probably has been for a long time, and it looks like that door led to some sort of enclosed foyer rather than the center of the building which is basically one gigantic, trashed-to-hell room. Let's see how the ambitions to reclaim the Holiday Inn turn out before we write off the newer building. There's just something about it I like. To me it's like a monument to the oil boom/bust from the 70s/80s, and a constant reminder that Downtown Houston has seen both brighter and darker days. It's at worst the second-ugliest abandoned hotel on the south end of DT

I remember seeing that picture in the Houston Press last year. That toilet is hanging up there from what was one of the top floors right? I think they mistakenly labeled it as being in the old Holiday Inn. BTW sevfiv, your site and pics are awesome.

That brick wall is cracked and it looks like it could fall over any time....and people (who work at the Exxon Bldg.?) still park basically at the base of the western half of the old Savoy. I was trying to get a closer look inside....hard to do from the ground level outside... It's kinda sad to watch it rot; this has to be one of the oldest buildings still standing downtown. I'd like to see them do something with the new building.

It looked like they were still working on it from what I saw from the rail yesterday (granted I wasn't really right around it). I'll try to get out to it today.

Cool shots, midtownuser. I was out there yesterday walking from the 82 bus to the rail (yes, folks, walking) but my camera batteries were dead. The vacantness around there does indeed send a mixed signal about Midtown but I really think of the whole place as a work in progress. The question is what to do with all that space. I figure you can fit three or four CVS there.

You know, I've been taking Metro a lot more often lately and finding a lot more people who I know aren't homeless riding. Maybe this $4/gallon business has something to do with it. It's not just for the poor and homeless anymore. Driving makes you poor now. So - supposing we're transitioning into a new norm where transit is a little more "mainstream" here - can you can explain to me how the expansion of transit (i.e. rail) is not going to cause more pedestrian traffic?