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MD Anderson Main Building At 1515 Holcombe Blvd.


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More about the mural's future:

With the clock ticking toward demolition and promising deals falling through, time seemed to be running out for Southwestern muralist Peter Hurd's massive, romantic depiction of ranch life in the Texas Medical Center's old Prudential Life Insurance Building.

But even as workers stripped asbestos from the doomed building at 1100 Holcombe Blvd., a wealthy benefactor acting on behalf of tiny Artesia, N.M., — a town in which Hurd once had a studio - saved the day.

Ultimately, the curved 16-foot-by-46-foot ranch scene, valued at around $4 million, will be the centerpiece of the town's new public library.

In coming weeks, workers will coat the painting's back with resin and fiberglass, then surround it with massive trusses. In December or January, they will roll the mural - now weighing 13 tons - from the building, hoist it onto a truck with a crane and drive it to Midland-Odessa, where the painting temporarily will be stored.

[...]

"The mural just sort of fell into our lap," said Hayley Klein, executive director of the Artesia Chamber of Commerce and a member of the library's building committee. "It's really a great opportunity for the community, M.D. Anderson and the art."

Hayley said Artesia, population 11,000, expects to let bids for its new library next summer. The new building will be specifically designed to accommodate the curved mural.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7274348.html

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  • 2 months later...

Swamplot has updated.. the building isn't quite dead yet.

"being demolished today is a “coach canopy” outside the structure, cancer center spokesperson Laura Sussman tells Swamplot. Removal of the canopy will allow workers to extract a large mural from inside the space before the building is demolished."

"couldn’t confirm when demolition of the 18-story former Prudential Life Insurance Building would take place, but a source tells Swamplot it’s been scheduled for the middle of February"

Edited by Highway6
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Please tell me a worthy tower will replace this beautiful building, I really hope it doesnt just become a parking lot or parking garage. I was driving around the area just south of TMC across the bayou and Jesus, Id never seen so much parking in my entire life. I was driving around there at night and I got lost in all those parking lots for about 20 minutes, couldnt find a way out of it. The last thing TMC needs is more parking, its ridiculous.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Another update from Swamplot -

Zakheim, the mural's conservator, was fired by Linbeck January 20th. Linbeck is also facing nearing deadlines for demolition. Something weird is going on here - I wonder what Zakheim did (or didn't do) to warrant a termination..

http://swamplot.com/will-m-d-andersons-contractor-bungle-the-largest-fresco-rescue-ever/2011-02-01/

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Please tell me a worthy tower will replace this beautiful building, I really hope it doesnt just become a parking lot or parking garage. I was driving around the area just south of TMC across the bayou and Jesus, Id never seen so much parking in my entire life. I was driving around there at night and I got lost in all those parking lots for about 20 minutes, couldnt find a way out of it. The last thing TMC needs is more parking, its ridiculous.

It will become one of two things:

1. surface parking lot

2. another bland boring box for which houston is known.

Edited by LTAWACS
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  • 3 months later...

Parking within the TMC core is extremely profitable. Standard TMC rates get to $12 at just over 2 hours, which is as long as any doctor visit takes in the TMC. I'm sure MD Anderson will add a new building on the site with a large garage. Hopefully they integrate the adjacent rail stop thoughtfully.

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Parking within the TMC core is extremely profitable. Standard TMC rates get to $12 at just over 2 hours, which is as long as any doctor visit takes in the TMC. I'm sure MD Anderson will add a new building on the site with a large garage. Hopefully they integrate the adjacent rail stop thoughtfully.

Shamrock Hilton, Prudential Bldg. the icons always seem to come down in Houston. As stated before it is truly sad to see the building being taken apart. My brother was able to get some of the marble and granite that was taken down several years ago from the building. Too bad they couldn't salvage those slabs before they implode the building.

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  • 4 weeks later...

What I loved most about this design was the exterior landscape, especially the fountain. Too bad it's suffered such a common fate among older buildings in this city. No respect.

I would like to think the building materials would be of value. Hopefully some parts of the old girl have been salvaged.

I mentioned before, my father worked in that bldg. many years ago. I remember looking out of one of the office windows to the swimming pool, far below.

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Totally agree with the Niche. UT MD Anderson only looked at converting it for medical space. However, professional office space is in high demand in the TMC. Additionally, housing is greatly needed for the thousands of students, interns, and residents who call the TMC home for a few years. I would have liked to have seen the old Prudential turned into an apartment tower, becoming the second one operated by TMC (Favrot Tower).

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  • 2 months later...

Any news on this? We took my son to TCH yesterday and had a good view of this building right outside our window. (Sorry - no camera) It looked completely gutted. But there was not a single worker in sight in the building or around it. Are they going to implode it or knock it down piece by piece?

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  • 1 month later...

Swamplot is reporting that they will now implode the building before the end of the year. They stated that manually demolishing the building would be too loud and would result in poor air quality for too long, thus disturbing patients and employees of TMC.

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  • 1 month later...

http://arch-ive.org/news/?p=58

Demolition day for the Houston Main Building (HMB) will be Sunday, Jan. 8, 2012.

But don’t make plans to come to campus to watch the implosion, which will take place after the sun comes up that morning. It’s a serious construction activity that requires a lot of attention to safety – for our patients, the public and ourselves.

“Implosions are loud and create a lot of dust, and there will be a lot of street closures,” says John Chachere, project director, Capital Planning and Management. “But safety is the most important thing.. For all these reasons, we’re asking that employees not come to campus unless they’re scheduled to work.”

Chachere points out that the exclusion zone – the area within which no one may be outside during the implosion process – is large. “There’s not any place you can go to view this thing and really see what’s going on.”

The implosion will be videotaped, so everyone will have ample opportunity to watch it later.

[...]

After it’s all gone, the site will be restored to a park-like area for everybody to enjoy.

A highlight of the park-like area will be the “Wave of Life” statue that’s graced the front of HMB since the 1950s.

Contractors will move the statue to a concrete pad at the west end of the Duncan Building prior to the implosion. The statue will return to its original location after all the debris is hauled away.

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The Prudential Building (Currently MD Anderson's Houston Main Building) is scheduled to be demolished on January 8th.

Here's an article from Swamp Lot, and here's the safety perimeter map.

I can see the Prudential building clearly from my lab at TCH but I'm inside the security perimeter so unfortunately I can't watch it from my lab. :( Does anybody have any good ideas about where the best place to watch the demolition will be?

Edited by Jax
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The Prudential Building (Currently MD Anderson's Houston Main Building) is scheduled to be demolished on January 8th.

Here's an article from Swamp Lot, and here's the safety perimeter map.

I can see the Prudential building clearly from my lab at TCH but I'm inside the security perimeter so unfortunately I can't watch it from my lab. :( Does anybody have any good ideas about where the best place to watch the demolition will be?

Why won't you be allowed to be in your lab on that day? Are TCH employees banned from entereing their own building? I have not heard that.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I looked at the safety notice again and it seems like it actually says the nobody is allowed outside in the safety perimeter zone on demolition day but, but it seems like maybe we can get away with being inside the building if we enter before the perimeter is closed.

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