houstonmacbro Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 renderings... http://www.kirksey.com/ProjectMain.asp?ID_...=202&OffSet=plus this one that's apparently been obtaine from the Y via email. swamplot posted it http://swamplot.com/the-new-downtown-ymca-...7-01/#more-2504 Looks very 70s-ish. But cool. I always liked that kinda style. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editor Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 I disagree. Such a bold statement like "Time time is now" seems incongruous with a rendering of what looks like a middle school. If the Y is going to occupy a prominent location I'd like to see something that's a little closer to being a landmark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricco67 Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 (edited) I disagree. Such a bold statement like "Time time is now" seems incongruous with a rendering of what looks like a middle school. If the Y is going to occupy a prominent location I'd like to see something that's a little closer to being a landmark.I love and hate this thread.I'm kinda liking the new design and am curious what the exact location will be.I hate this thread because the song keeps going through my head every time I see or read this thread.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYZC3I8gTKk Edited July 1, 2008 by ricco67 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevfiv Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 According to Swamplot, it will be diagonal from the Savoy on the Pease, Travis, Jefferson, Milam block Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midtownuser Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 I love and hate this thread.I'm kinda liking the new design and am curious what the exact location will be.I hate this thread because the song keeps going through my head every time I see or read this thread.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYZC3I8gTKki rekindled this thread. so hate me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricco67 Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 i rekindled this thread. so hate me.noted. You're now hated. I dare you to click on the youtube link. I double dog dare you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wernicke Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 I think the new design is terrible... and even more terrible if it is to be built downtown. Seriously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houstonmacbro Posted July 2, 2008 Share Posted July 2, 2008 I think the new design is terrible... and even more terrible if it is to be built downtown. Seriously.It would work in a neighborhood much better, but all in all ... it is not bad. I like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montrose1100 Posted July 2, 2008 Share Posted July 2, 2008 Downtown's landmark YMCA building will be demolished and the land sold as the nonprofit community organization develops a new facility after more than six decades in its current home: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5865081.htmlSwaplot said Chevron bought it, but has no current plans for it after they demolish it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KinkaidAlum Posted July 2, 2008 Share Posted July 2, 2008 I think the new design is terrible... and even more terrible if it is to be built downtown. Seriously.Completely agree. On the bright side, it might make the New Firehouse look less out of place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston19514 Posted July 2, 2008 Share Posted July 2, 2008 Completely agree. On the bright side, it might make the New Firehouse look less out of place.The design is attractive enough and would be fine for Sugar Land or even Midtown, but totally wrong for downtown. Very disappointing. They should have teamed up with one of the office or hotel developers and gone into a new high-rise/mixed use development. The Y in Charlotte did that many years ago... in a then-new high-rise for First Union (now Wachovia). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsb320 Posted July 2, 2008 Share Posted July 2, 2008 The design is attractive enough and would be fine for Sugar Land or even Midtown, but totally wrong for downtown. Very disappointing. They should have teamed up with one of the office or hotel developers and gone into a new high-rise/mixed use development. The Y in Charlotte did that many years ago... in a then-new high-rise for First Union (now Wachovia).The new location is a stone's throw from Midtown (if you can throw a rock over or under the Pierce Elevated). I personally think that having a new, state-of-the-art facility wins over having another surface lot. If you look at it this way, this move promotes potential development on two blocks downtown.Also, I don't know why people go all negative on a design when the renderings provided are so limited. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevfiv Posted July 2, 2008 Share Posted July 2, 2008 It's a surface lot taken for a surface lot made (since there are no plans after the building is demolished).Why does new development have to destroy an already developed block? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsb320 Posted July 2, 2008 Share Posted July 2, 2008 It's a surface lot taken for a surface lot made (since there are no plans after the building is demolished).Why does new development have to destroy an already developed block?Because that building is falling apart and has been for years. I certainly doubt Chevron will put a parking lot there; maybe a parking garage. It would be nice to have some greenspace on that end of town also. I know, I know, the other lot they have is partially a surface lot, but I think it was purchased as such. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsb320 Posted July 2, 2008 Share Posted July 2, 2008 The new location is a stone's throw from Midtown (if you can throw a rock over or under the Pierce Elevated). I personally think that having a new, state-of-the-art facility wins over having another surface lot. If you look at it this way, this move promotes potential development on two blocks downtown.Also, I don't know why people go all negative on a design when the renderings provided are so limited.Nevermind. I went back and looked at it again. It's fugly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevfiv Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 Forgot about the response about the demolition from Ramona Davis (GHPA) to the Chronicle:http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive....id=2008_4594168 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
citizen4rmptown Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 well i think the new Y should grow horizantal ,in comparison to the old one which is taller Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arivechi Posted July 23, 2008 Share Posted July 23, 2008 Gotta agree that there are plenty of things that could be done with the existing building. However, this is Houston and that is prime property (although there are empty blocks all around it). It is not seen as the "highest use" to save it so it will come down. It's the so-called free market at work.I realize that not every building can be saved. But there are some that should and we are running out of those in Houston. This is one of them.I'm just wondering if any of you have actually been IN the building. I have been going there to work-out for the last year and there are soooo many times when parts of the basement (weights and cardio area) are cordoned off because pipes are leaking, buckets or trashcans catch other drips, this last week the whole office area flooded and they had industrial fans down there. Light panels spark when water drips in them. The squash courts and basketball courts have crumbling paint and walls. We just always think that something will fall on us while we're there. But yes, at the same time it'd be ideal if some millionaire could throw $$$ at it for preservation. It's so nice to see a non-giant glass covered sky-rise that preserves some of the character of early Houston. But it would need to be completely gutted. The whole infrastructure would need updating or replacing. Down to the foundation probably.I think the YMCA deserves a new building. The new building would have spaces really built for their programs instead of trying to adapt an old building to new purposes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KinkaidAlum Posted July 24, 2008 Share Posted July 24, 2008 (edited) If the YMCA can operate under code, then that building can easily be rehabbed.Houston just needs some developers who care about history and have VISION.Boston's latest example of a really cool adaptive reuse is the Liberty Hotel. The Liberty Hotel is built in and next to the old Charles Street Jail. The Jail was built in 1851. It was finally closed for good in 1990 after a prison riot and court case that said conditions were so BAD that the prisoners' Constitutional rights were being violated. I imagine things were much worse there than they are at the Y, especially after it sat vacant for nearly 15 years!Today, the old jail houses the hotel's lobby, meeting rooms, grand ballroom, 18 guest suites, and some of the city's hottest nightlife. The Clink restaurant has tables in the old jail cells. The Alibi bar is built into the old "drunk tank." Adjacent to the old jail, a new 16-story modern glass + steel tower was built to house 280 additional rooms.I just don't but that they old Y can't be rehabbed. Edited July 24, 2008 by KinkaidAlum 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNiche Posted July 24, 2008 Share Posted July 24, 2008 If the YMCA can operate under code, then that building can easily be rehabbed.Doesn't sound like they are.I just don't buy that the old Y can't be rehabbed.They didn't say it wasn't possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsb320 Posted July 24, 2008 Share Posted July 24, 2008 Chevron wanted and got that land. That building was in bad shape back in the 80's. Good Lord people, this is Houston. We don't be rehabin' very often. We're very lucky to have gotten some of the newer hotels downtown as rehabs (ie: Icon & Magnolia).I would suspect that the next highrise set for demo is the Sterling Bank building at Texas & San Jac. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SecondTour Posted July 26, 2008 Share Posted July 26, 2008 I look forward to the day when Houstonians (and the rest of the country) become stewards and conservators of our history, instead of worrying so much about cost-prohibitiveness. I think it's a stage of maturity which we simply haven't reached yet. In the end, not everything is about money. Well put. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vertigo58 Posted September 9, 2008 Share Posted September 9, 2008 So this is where the name Tellepsen came from??? The new Downtown Y, which is expected to break ground next year just around the corner from the existing building, will be named the Tellepsen Family YMCA, officials said today. The Tellepsens, a Houston family in the construction business for almost a century, have been involved in different leadership roles within the YMCA of Greater Houston for generations. The family has made an undisclosed donation to the downtown project. The Tellepsen company also will be general contractor. "This is a family gift. We are so proud to have it named after such a revered family," said Clark Baker, president and chief executive of the YMCA of Greater Houston. more here: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metrop...an/5991712.html 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkjones98 Posted September 9, 2008 Share Posted September 9, 2008 I couldn't find a related topic, but here is the article.http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metrop...an/5991712.html 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevfiv Posted September 9, 2008 Share Posted September 9, 2008 topics combined 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniepwils Posted September 10, 2008 Share Posted September 10, 2008 I give the YMCA props for at least looking into restoring and renovating the building, but in the end it just wasn't cost efficient for them I suppose. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdude Posted September 11, 2008 Share Posted September 11, 2008 I give the YMCA props for at least looking into restoring and renovating the building, but in the end it just wasn't cost efficient for them I suppose.No, it never is, is it? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChannelTwoNews Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 Saw this morning that the surface lot for the new Y has already been fenced off. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kylejack Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 Gotta do what you gotta do, I guess, but I really like that old building. Interesting that the YMCA is dropping the housing units. Kinda makes you wonder where all those guys that stay there are going to go. Back on to the streets, I guess, because none of the other homeless facilities have capacity to cover that shortfall. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GovernorAggie Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 They've had heavy equipment on-site for probably a week or so now doing some drilling and other things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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