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  1. Spring Branch ISD seems to be imploding lately. In a matter of less than a month’s time they have had two high profile situations that have raised serious concerns about SBISD’s ability to remain a highly rated district. In the first situation, Superintendent Jennifer Blaine and other high ranking individuals in the district, as well as the board members, have been flooding district families' inboxes imploring them to reach out to the state legislature, warning them that if the state doesn’t raise Spring Branch’s per-student allotment by $1,000, the following consequences will occur starting the 2024-2025 school year: Senators Paul Bettencourt and Joan Huffman have called the district’s claims “scare tactics” meant to “distract parents from how the school district is managing their local, state, and federal funds like their recent hiring of Austin lobbyists.” https://embed.documentcloud.org/documents/23778251-press-release-senator-joan-huffman-and-senator-paul-bettencourts-response-to-misleading-statements-made-by-spring-branch-isd-leadership/?embed=1&responsive=1&title=1 The second situation is Spring Branch canceling all school field trips to see Main Street Theatre’s production of James and the Giant Peach. SBISD received nationwide and international negative coverage over this. This decision came very soon after a mother gave a rambling, incoherent tirade claiming the performance had characters “in drag”. This mother is a frequent flyer at SBISD board meetings’ public comment periods, always spouting fringe right wing anti-CRT, anti-trans rhetoric, and attacking one of the more moderate board members, a Methodist pastor. The district should have known her complaint wasn’t credible, but ever since the the board was taken over by a majority of super-conservative trustees that ran as anti-CRT and anti-trans candidates in 2022, there is such a culture of fear among district employees that they fold to any complaint related to the board majority’s pet issues. After all the overwhelmingly negative publicity the decision brought down on the district, the district finally issued a statement where they claimed the decision was not based on Gerland’s comments, but unnamed teachers and parents had raised concerns about “movements that could be perceived as suggestive in nature that took place during the performance.” Criticism of the district’s decision has been fierce. David DeMatthews of UT’s Department of Educational Leadership was particularly scathing in his assessment of how Superintendent Blaine handled the situation: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/shows/town-square/2023/05/01/450546/spring-branch-and-the-giant-peach-the-reaction-to-the-cancelled-field-trip-over-cross-gender-casting/ To demonstrate how obsessed the new SBISD board is about culture war issues: In the midst of this crisis over Spring Branch’s financial sustainability, the board also discussed pulling out of the Texas Association of School Boards. This itself would have financial implications for the district, because it gets significant discounts in items like insurance, legal services, etc. Leaving TASB would raise costs for the district. So why was the board considering it? Because TASB’s guidance on transgender students wasn’t conservative enough for the SBISD board, and TASB didn’t distance itself from the National School Boards Association after NSBA sent a letter to the Department of Justice asking it to investigate the increase of threats of violence against school boards. Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face. I’m not sure how many people outside of Spring Branch were paying attention to what has been going on there before the James and the Giant Peach fiasco, but things are really bad there. Major crackdowns on teachers and students’ self-expression. Pretty oppressive new rules on what kind of décor teachers can have in their classrooms, what they can wear on their persons, like no rainbow pins on lanyards, etc, no pronouns in their email signatures, etc. Pulling books from libraries and teacher’s classrooms has been a big priority. The Newberry Award winning book New Kid is an example of a book that was challenged. The board passed a new policy that made it easier for parents to challenge books, and more heavily weighted parental input into the decision on whether a book is pulled or not. But then other parents started challenging all sorts of books to prove that the process was flawed, the board got furious and just started reviewing books themselves. Even books that have not been through any kind of review process have been peremptorily pulled, there are entire rooms at schools filled with pulled books. And board members have started going after vendors and threatening to cancel their contracts because they don’t like their perceived politics. They’re going after everyone from Blue Willow Bookshop, a beloved mom and pop store that has brought wonderful authors to speak at SBISD schools, just because Blue Willow’s social media is pro-inclusiveness and anti-censorship, to Scholastic, the national company that runs book fairs. There are also other reasons SBISD's political/cultural climate might not be appealing to open-minded, educated families looking for a place to move to.The Villages, the areas zoned for Memorial High School, are where the most rabid conservative trustees and their ardent supporters come from, and unsurprisingly, the climate there is incredibly racist. There is an entire section of the bleachers at Memorial home football games that yells racist and homophobic epithets at visiting school players and band members, has for years, and the administration hasn't done a thing about it. It's a school that has events like this: https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/thug-day-at-memorial-hs-called-out-for-racist-undertones/285-d076395c-f07b-4a0b-a087-aa4b28fa4eeb I see things going very badly for Spring Branch ISD over the next five years. Spring Branch is already having trouble recruiting faculty and staff. Classes like high school chemistry are running at as many as 60 kids per qualified teacher, who divides him time between two classrooms, with a student teacher pinch hitting for him in one when he’s in the other. Candidates are turning down job offers both because SBISD’s pay is not competitive and because they see the district in turmoil. When school boards go hard right on these culture war issues, teachers quit. Since Keller ISD’s board pushed to remove books about gender identity, teacher resignations went up 59%. After Granbury ISD pulled over 125 titles from library shelves, teacher resignations in that district shot up 115%. And now if SBISD staff think they might be laid off when other districts are scrambling for qualified applicants, well, I’d be looking for a job right now if I worked as SBISD. Teachers and staff will be signing their contracts for next year over the next month or so, will be interesting to see how many don’t resign with SBISD by the deadline. People pay the premium real estate prices and the premium taxes in the Memorial area for the SBISD schools. When schools can’t hire decent teachers, their performance and reputation goes downhill fast, and property values in the area follow, and it’s a self-sustaining process of decline. Now you have a district that is publicly on the brink of financial meltdown by its own characterization, you have teachers not wanting to work there because they don’t know if they’ll have a job there in a year and they can make more elsewhere, where they won’t have to fear their every word being scrutinized for “woke” leanings. Pretty soon you’ll see a mix of parents pulling their kids from public school because either they’re concerned about the declining educational performance, or because they are the kind that buy into the Moral Panic over CRT and gender identity, as well as people not wanting to move into a district with a national reputation of being small-minded, reactionary, and a local reputation of being financially unstable. That’s going to drive down the Average Daily Attendance used to determine funding, as well as drive property values down, that will only worsen SBISD’s financial woes, further drive down performance. I remember how in the 70s and 80s SBISD went from being a top-regarded district to second-rate pretty fast; teachers and administrators fled the district for growing districts in the suburbs, they had to close two high schools, Spring Branch High School and Westchester High School, and Northbrook High School went from a decent high school to the low-performing school it is now. I remember in the late 80s my parents thought about moving closer into town and considered buying a really nice house south of I-10, zoned for Memorial High School, but decided to stay in the far suburbs because they were worried they’d probably have to fork out for private school if they moved into SBISD. I see that fate repeating itself for SBISD this decade.
  2. https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/9200-Katy-Fwy-Houston-TX/17632259/
  3. "Define Living shared plans for a 260-unit multifamily development in Houston. The development, called Define Living at Brittmoore, is located at 1888 Brittmoore Road, just off Interstate 10. The project consists of four midrise buildings containing one- and two-bedroom apartments. All units will feature nine-foot ceilings, stainless-steel appliances, wooden cabinetry, walk-in closets and in-unit washers and dryers." https://houstonagentmagazine.com/2023/10/03/define-living-houston-midrise/
  4. Needing more home space, I am reluctantly leaving the Heights. My wife teaches in Spring Branch ISD, and my son is already in school there, so we have selected Spring Branch as our new neighborhood. We're taking baby steps in our exodus to the 'burbs. So. I'm meeting up with a real estate agent in the morning, and we're going to look at houses, and I'd like to know where we can expect street flooding in Spring Branch. We're actually looking pretty far west - generally speaking Gessner and Kempwood area. Does anyone know which roads we'll need to be wary of when the rain starts coming down? We're not looking at anything in any floodplane, so we're generally not worried about property damage, we're just thinking about how easy it'll be to get home if we get one of those storms like we had in Oct. '03. Any tips on what to look out for, and advice for higher ground alt. routes would be greatly appreciated.
  5. 8210 Long Point Rd - 3.33 Acres of Commercial Land in Houston, TX https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/8210-Long-Point-Rd-Houston-TX/24886646/
  6. I was looking for old skating rinks in the Houston area and found a Facebook group of people who used to visit this place. When did the Carousel Skating Rink located at 9190 Old Katy Rd. open? When did the skating rink close? Any memories here? I assueme this was in the 1970s? The Facebook group had a lot more pictures if anyone wants to see more..
  7. Looking at The Bellaire Texan magazine dated July 8, 1964 and saw a few advertisements for Spring Branch Stables. Wild West Rodeo Saturday 8:00 P.M. Spring Branch Stables Rodeo Arena At 1961 Ojeman Road (One block west of Bingle Rd. off Long Point Rd.)
  8. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/3721563.html The investment group would like one more traffic generator to go with Edward's Cinema. Curious who they have in mind.
  9. When I was shooting progress at the Gateway at Spring Valley project, I noticed a sign for a building of similar size called 1001 Campbell just across the road. Couldn't find much about it online. Most refers to a project being developed by Lincoln Property, but with a different design. This is the only one I see at present with the rendering on the sign: https://www.vts.com/spaces/1001-campbell-1001-campbell-rd-3rd-floor-suite-300 http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w208/houtosme/DSC04232_zpsa7hhlskz.jpg http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w208/houtosme/DSC04242_zpszdnnhb79.jpg
  10. There are three generations of psychiatric/behavioral hospitals here at 2801 Gessner Rd. From my research the story is as follows: In the mid 1990's a hospital named Spring Shadows Glen Psychiatric Hospital ran the place until the staff got into criminal trouble. The lawsuit claims Spring Shadows Glen Psychiatric Hospital is accused of perpetrating a "scheme to defraud by allegedly falsely diagnosing patients with multiple personality disorder caused by their alleged participation in a secret satanic cult." In 1997, or soon after, the hospital was shut down. https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/criminal-charges-filed-recovered-memory-case In 2003, when Menninger Clinic first moved to Houston, they filled the vacant space at 2801 Gessner. Once Menninger got situated in Houston and had their 50-acre "Mental Health Epicenter" built at 12301 South Main they left the space at 2801 Gessner. https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Nationally-known-Menninger-Clinic-moves-to-Houston-2108195.php In 2012, Aurora Behavioral Healthcare bought 2801 Gessner and opened the Houston Behavioral Healthcare Hospital. Aurora Behavioral Healthcare, LLC (SHS) based in Corona, California, is one of the largest privately held psychiatric hospital companies in the country, serving thousands of patients every year. https://www.houstonbehavioralhealth.com/about/about-signature-houston In 2022, as of today, Menninger still a doctor with an office at 2801 Gessner. Dr. Elizabeth W. Newlin. https://www.menningerclinic.org/staff/elizabeth-newlin
  11. Long Point was one of those streets that features a lot in my life in the 70s. I don't remember much about the strip between the railroad tracks and Antoine. I noticed the other day that Empress Chinese restaurant is still there. Looks about the same as it always has. Ate there once in the 90s. Next door was Speedy's where they had a game room and a go-kart track. From Antoine to Wirt was always a string a cruddy apartments. Mom always advised us to lock the doors through there. I think she figured Sissy Spacek's babysitter and her two youngest were prime targets. Weiner's at Wirt and Long Point is pretty much where daily life started. I had to use historicaerials.com to figure out that the shopping center on the northwest corner was completely torn down. Once upon a time there was a Palais Royale there. I went to school at Long Point Baptist from K through 3rd. There was a huge field on the north side of the property were we all went crazy at recess. I think most school administrators, teachers, and parents would have a heart attack at the mere thought of how scattered we could get out there. The only time anyone showed concern was when a classmate was rooting around in the trees and leaves at the far fence and uncovered 5 copperheads. That scared most of us out of there for a little while. But we had to go back. The trees were way too enticing. Many a recess I had to sit on the side because I wouldn't drink my milk. Hated plain milk then and still won't drink it. Usually the lure of monkey bars and chase would convince me to down that warm stuff so I could head out. I remember one of the teachers there saying war was God's way of controlling the population. Based on that I guess we'd be in a real fix these days. The only teacher's name I can recall is Mrs. Courtney for kindergarten. That was in the 2 story building in front of the church proper. Every day we had to unstack our cots and take a nap. Afterward was punch and cookies neither of which I found thrilling. Warm punch and bland cookies. Still, they beat the ice cream scooper of boiled spinach from the lunch room. The uniform was gray pants and white shirt for the boys (with a clip-on green plaid tie for chapel) and the same pattern green plaid skirts and white blouses for the girls. I still have a scar on the back of my neck from 2nd grade. The library was a room on the 1st floor. We never got to spend enough time there so I remember soaking in the titles of books. Looking back I think most of what we were reading or using for classroom material was from the 50s and early 60s. Down a ways at Long Point and Pech was the Kmart center. That's where my tennis shoes came from. They were in a bin about the middle of the store and part of the process was digging around for my size. Mom was no fool in that regard. As quick as I outgrew pairs there was no reason to be extravagant. The lighting was always dim in there. The place may have only been 10 or so years old at that time but it felt like a cast off relic to me. There were a few stores in the slightly younger strip built on the same lot. Furr's Cafeteria was one of our eating out mainstays. Most times you could find my school's music teacher playing piano for the diners. Talk about a real touch of class for a mid range cafeteria. There was a record store in the corner near Kmart. I was always freaked out by the life size Molly Hatchet display of the creepy looking dark knight on horseback, I think, they kept there. I was convinced MH had to be really sinister to look like that. It wasn't until a summer in college that I actually heard a song from them - Fall of the Peacemakers on a 70s rock station in DC. I had to laugh at myself for discovering they weren't so evil after all those years. The now defunct post office on Hillendahl was where we got all our stamps. At the corner of Pech and LP is the old cemetery which still belongs to the family that once held a lot of the land that became Spring Branch. I've always liked the rock paving they used there. There must be a name for the stuff. Across the street was the Ridgecrest strip center. There was a home furnishings/electronics store there. The Ridgecrest Barber shop was the backup place if I wasn't going to get my hair cut at Northwest Mall. There was a jewelry store at Norcrest and LP. My youngest sister knew their daughter in high school. I think one or both of the parents was killed in a robbery. Maybe that was the teenager that owned her own house on Mooreberry by Northbrook HS. At Moritz and LP was Alfies Fish n Chips. Their logo was a happy guy's head in a stocking cap and flowing scarf. I think part of the original building is still there but has been changed radically. Then right before you got to Bingle was the big bull. Judging by the aerials it has been there since '68. It's a tire store now but was a Mexican restaurant then. The building it fronts is unremarkable which only makes the bull stand out all the more. When it's gone I don't think I'll be able to drive through there anymore. Had my first Blizzard at the DQ just south of LP on Bingle. Cool old school DQ with the covered parking in front. Next door was a skate board park. The DQ is something else now and the Young World day care has been razed. West from there was the Scoggins and Kay women's boutique. Funny how my older sister said she missed it when it finally closed though she never shopped there. There was also a gas station where LP veers left andSpring Branch Drive goes to the right which was an entertaining back route until I got a car with run flats. I think the guy who ran in serve in Korea based on the flags. The station goes back to the 50s in the aerials. Now it's dust. So are the homes I never really knew much about on the lots behind it. There is a strip center at the corner of Campbell and LP 9101 Long Point. Back in the 70s it was occupied by a small, even compared to places like the Kroger (Kroger means better meat) on Kempwood, Lewis & Coker on Memorial, or even Continental Minimax in Town and Country. As an aside all three of those stores seemed cramped and dirty back then. Anyway, I haven't been able to find an old enough listing online to show me the name of this store. I do remember it was the place where I could usually convince mom to spring for Fruit Sripe gum. They also had toy warships that were die cast metal because the things were meant to last. They had small inset wheels on the bottom so that carpet became the perfect off-color ocean for your fleet. Closer to Blalock the old mainstays like May's Fried Chicken and the Hoover repair shop have disappeared while Southern Garden apartments remains. The place was not particularly nice then though not as awful as say the Red Apple or Mount Vernon. Randall's had a decent store at Blalock. The manager was always courteous and the store clean. My first memory of mom asking my youngest sister or myself to get toilet paper are there. She would not say it out loud. Always a very low whisper to go get TP. Oh man, the dirty looks we'd get if we made the mistake of saying toilet paper in a normal voice anywhere away from home. I still remember the teenager lying face down and bleeding in the ditch at Oak Tree apartments. Came out on the short end of a fight between the gels (jells?) and either the jocks or the kickers. I think every kid except me hunted crawdads in the ditches of Spring Branch. The old center at Bunker Hill remains. The pad building has been some sort of fried whatever dispensary since the beginning of time I think. To me the place is classic LP. Relics of the building boom of the 50s that created neighborhood life out of farmland. A lot of it is crap but some of it is charming. As the area re-gentrifies I'm sure much will be razed. If you never saw a movie at the dollar theater or ate at Stockman's you missed out. Also there right before Gessner was a great DQ. Definitely better than watching mid century razing was watching the cars change out over time at the used car place in the same center. If I had the money I'd buy the Royalgate Apartments at 1711 Gessner just to be able to look at them any time I wanted. LP and the surrounding area has a lot in the way of unremarkable buildings that no one would care about should the bulldozer and wrecking ball take them away. But scattered across the landscape of my first years are some real gems. Here is a partial list. 1) 9101 Long Point 2) 1610 Campbell 4) Elizabeth Ring Library 5) 8810 Long Point - formerly Golden Age Retirement Home 6) 1663 Blalock - Ragsdill School where I learned to swim. It looked better when it was red. I really miss Charlie's Burgers (dozens and dozens sold) just a couple doors down 7) Get inside one of the apartments at 9733 Neuens. Was in one a few years ago. A trip back in time to when it was new - that well kept up. Very funky fixtures. 8) the old Der Wienerschnitzel building at Knoboak and Gessner is worth it just for a laugh 9) the Nothing Over $1.15 at Westray and Gessner 10) Dig the roof line at 1636 Gessner - reminds me of my brother's neighborhood (Westbury - and yes, the Westbury UMC is gorgeous enough to convert a soul or two) 11) Mister Car Wash - oh yes. Everything else is just a car wash. 12) Memorial High School - a beautiful place to go to school before the later add ons. I loved going to school there just because you could breathe, you could see more than just school buildings. I told my wife that the library in the Breakfast Club reminded me of MHS's. 13) Memorial Church of Christ on Echo Lane. If Westbury can save your soul. Then this church and Memorial Drive Presbyterian are heaven. Does anyone remember the little house where they had chickens and such on Echo Lane? 14) 730 Marchmont. I lust after this house. Lust!! 14) Mr. Fortenbach's house at the corner of Piney Point and Taylorcrest. Dad once left tire marks all over his motor court. Get a couple scotches in the old man in those days and there was no telling what he'd do. He could intimidate state troopers out of tickets and tell how he once turned brown suede combat boots to black spit polish over night in ROTC. Never did buy that one. Sorry for rambling. Got to thinking about driving the family down LP on New Years Day and finding Spring Branch Memorial Hospital about a third demolished. I was born there one dark and stormy night in 1970. The window to the room is burned into my memory. Mom drove her '68 Delta 88 until '77 and I saw the small dent in the trunk from where someone rear-ended my parents that night on the way to my delivery. For symmetry my sister dropped me on the sidewalk at our house on Cindywood the day I came home. It was a strange feeling to see the place where I was born in that condition. The hospital, like me, had seen better days. Next they'll be tearing down the Ring Branch Library, or me.Though at least there'll be no more visits to scary Dr. Sedotal, who looks like Esther Wolf's son Dr. Wolf in my fevered brain (frizzy hair, shirt open to mid chest and gold chains but minus the shotgun). I better get out here before I start talking about life in Memorial and moaning over the loss of the "haunted mansion" at Strey Lane.
  12. Since we Don't have Subforums for various "Villages" or Spring Branch, so I'll be putting these here for now. In 2017 the residents of Spring Branch ISD passed a Bond Referendum. A couple of those projects will take place at Stratford High School. The current proposal calls for a demo of the existing auditorium and replace it with a new one. Other minor renovations include changes to the front entry and common areas. Developer: SBISD Architect: PBK Estimated Completion: 3Q 2021 Bond Info: https://www.springbranchisd.com/about/bond-2017/campus-bond-work/stratford-high-school This one is still going through various options. After that point, whichever option they choose will go into further refinement. SBISD Presentation (June 27th 2019): https://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1563393350/springbranchisdcom/lfxeynq4jeahqydlyc5t/2019-06-21_PAT06_FINAL_email.pdf Images from presentation:
  13. While this is a little off subject, The owners of the Cannon just bought the property where my studio is located (The Rythm Room/1410 Brittmore) which is half a block from the Cannon. We're being told that they are creating high line studio facilities in each of the 4 buildings, which are about 10,000 square feet each. For those not in the music community here, Brittmore is becoming a musicians hotbed with hundreds of studio and rehearsal spaces. DW Drums/Cymbal Fusion recognized what's been happening and just built a store right across the street from our studio...
  14. Is it time to add Spring Branch as a location? There's a lot happening in the area!
  15. Noticed Salata is opening up in this strip center. Shoppes At Memorial Village: Retail Center At 1014 Wirt Rd.
  16. The previous owner purchased it from the school district in 1995 and remodeled in 1996. Does anyone know who was the original architect?
  17. Noticed an MRI replacement registered with TLDR. Building is located at 8333 Katy Freeway.
  18. Think I'm reading this right? DMRE sold 5.46 Acres that closed on 2/21/2020. I see a demo report for an industrial building at 1128 Silber. Possible multifamily coming? https://dmre.com/property/1128-silber-5-46-acres/
  19. I had friends in Spring Branch who went to Spring Branch High. I remember going to the school but I can't remember where it was located. Can someone help me? Also, did they tear it down or is it still up?
  20. As posted on swamplot.com this morning, this late 50's home is slated to be demolished: http://har.com/HomeValue/dispSoldDetail.cfm?MLNUM=6432871# Pity as the overall quality appears quite workable -- not to mention original. It's not often you'll find well maintained and non-altered homes of this ilk... no doubt such will be replaced with a home akin to what's next door.
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