H-Town Man Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 I saw this awhile back and I like it, but am I the only one who thinks this is not grand enough for downtown? It looks like something that should be in the museum district. The main building is just too short. You do wonder at what point, if that area takes off like it seems to be on the verge of doing, is a two story building no longer deemed highest and best use of prime land. That will be a nice problem to have for all involved, however. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArchFan Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 I just don't want it to be either (1) tacky or (2) underwhelming. I think that, if done right, it would be a really nice addition to downtown and to Houston. By "done right", I am not thinking about how tall or glitzy the building is ... but rather, whether it brings to light the myriad facets of Houston's unlikely rise to being a city of international importance. One good source appears to be Louis Aulbach's book, which (among other events) discusses the 1837 arrival of ~300 Comanches camping on a gully and spring in downtown Houston (near today's Wortham Theatre) to petition Sam Houston and make a treaty with the Texas government based in Houston. The details are very interesting and otherwise one would never imagine such things would occur in "boring ol' downtown Houston". 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoustonIsHome Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 I saw this awhile back and I like it, but am I the only one who thinks this is not grand enough for downtown? It looks like something that should be in the museum district. The main building is just too short.I agree with you that its not grand enough and works be better suited near Sam Houston park. However, we still have a lot of empty lots and one story buildings downtown. So it isnt exactly the direction I picture for downtown, but it really isn't that out of place YET. That area as we speak is very barren. Very Detroitish.It is going to be very different in the years, but as others have said an improvement in tourism or other things in the area are very welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanith27 Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 FWIW I see a lot of heavy machinery on site now. Lots of construction looking people walking around. Didn't see them yesterday. Maybe groundbreaking is coming soon? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rechlin Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 It's hard to tell from my vantage point, but to me it looks like they are getting ready to move the locomotive, because they have a crane right by it and a bunch of guys walking around it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigereye Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 It's hard to tell from my vantage point, but to me it looks like they are getting ready to move the locomotive, because they have a crane right by it and a bunch of guys walking around it.The locomotive was being moved. See @HoustonFirst's Twitter feed for pics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UtterlyUrban Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 Is there any specific description of the exhibits, layout. Mission, etc of this building that someone more knowledgable than Google could point me to? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston19514 Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 Is there any specific description of the exhibits, layout. Mission, etc of this building that someone more knowledgable than Google could point me to? http://www.naucenter.org/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mab Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 http://youtu.be/_Qp9FBl9fuM?t=3m31sGround breaking Nov 12 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howard Huge Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 Will this one add another tower crane or too short? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UtterlyUrban Posted October 12, 2014 Share Posted October 12, 2014 (edited) http://youtu.be/_Qp9FBl9fuM?t=3m31sGround breaking Nov 12Good to hear.That video was A little too candy ass for me. I am surprised that HF wouldn't produce something more refined. Feels like spending 4 minutes with an ex-Texans cheerleader. Upbeat and positive is good. Sickly sweet is not polished or refined. Edited October 12, 2014 by UtterlyUrban Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFootsSocks Posted October 12, 2014 Share Posted October 12, 2014 Candy-ass? What is that supposed to mean? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UtterlyUrban Posted October 12, 2014 Share Posted October 12, 2014 Candy-ass? What is that supposed to mean?Sorry, that may be a coliquialism not used here.How about this: "horribly sweet in a fake sort of way." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFootsSocks Posted October 12, 2014 Share Posted October 12, 2014 Ahhh ok that makes sense. Just sounded a little...offensive...is all. I know it wasn't intentional! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArchFan Posted October 12, 2014 Share Posted October 12, 2014 (edited) Thanks for clarifying that term. I've always heard it used in a pejorative way, but the specific meaning was never entirely clear. Seriously, there could be many possible interpretations, some of which are unpleasant to contemplate! :-) Edited October 12, 2014 by ArchFan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArchFan Posted October 12, 2014 Share Posted October 12, 2014 UtterlyUrban, I just watched the video and well ... perhaps I might have critiqued it in a softer way, but I see what you meant. It reminded me of the speech Bobby Jindal gave a few years back, in which his speaking style reminded people of how an adult would talk to kindergartners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLWM8609 Posted October 12, 2014 Share Posted October 12, 2014 Ahhh ok that makes sense. Just sounded a little...offensive...is all. I know it wasn't intentional! I guess you haven't seen the Gabby Johnson speech in "Blazing Saddles" where he calls the town's minister an "ol' pious, candy-ass sidewinder." 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFootsSocks Posted October 12, 2014 Share Posted October 12, 2014 Lol no tbh I've only ever heard it used 4 or 5 times. Great movie tho Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UtterlyUrban Posted October 12, 2014 Share Posted October 12, 2014 (edited) Ahhh ok that makes sense. Just sounded a little...offensive...is all. I know it wasn't intentional!No issues.It was my fault for using a term that was unclear. Thanks for pointing it out!Edit:Yikes..... It seems that my usages of that term is as dated as me! The "urban dictionary" defines it as "wimp or sissy"...... Since that is the current definition, let me take that term back..... Not what I used the term as many, many years ago. The current definition wins..... I should not have used it.......So, let's just strike that term. I will say that the video was over the top sweet to the point of greatly diminishing it's message and content. HF can and should presnt a more polished image.Sorry for the confusion and thanks to those who questioned the term..... Caused me to look something up and learn something. Old dog, new trick. Edited October 13, 2014 by UtterlyUrban 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urbannizer Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 Groundbreaking set for Nov. 12th 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triton Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 November is going to be a big month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luminare Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 November is going to be a big month. Make that the whole season of Winter a big season! Holy crap so many projects starting Q4 2014 and Q1 2015 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houstontexasjack Posted November 12, 2014 Share Posted November 12, 2014 (edited) The Nau Center for Cultural Heritage will apparently break ground today. http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2014/11/12/nau-center-for-texas-cultural-heritage-to-break.html Edit: I have created a version of this thread with the attached article in the "Going Up!" category. Edited November 12, 2014 by houstontexasjack 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houstontexasjack Posted November 12, 2014 Share Posted November 12, 2014 There is a similar forum for the Downtown neighborhoods, but, given that this will break ground today, it seemed appropriate to create a thread in the "Going Up" category. http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2014/11/12/nau-center-for-texas-cultural-heritage-to-break.html 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdude Posted November 12, 2014 Share Posted November 12, 2014 Merged 'em. Thanks 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mab Posted November 12, 2014 Share Posted November 12, 2014 Nau and his capital campaign team have raised $33 million of the estimated $80 million cost, including Nau's own $16 million commitment. While it's unusual for a civic project to start moving dirt before 60 percent of the funds have been secured, said Nau, "the difference here is that Houston will be hosting the world in 2017. We know we have to be open and operating by the Super Bowl." The game will be at NRG Stadium, but Houston Firstwill stage activities around the George R. Brown Convention Center as "Super Bowl El Centro." The company expects as many as 1 million visitors to the area during 10 days of festivities. "I cherish a deadline," Greater Houston Partnership president Paul Hobby said. "Deadlines get things done. A visitor's center is something you can't imagine Houston not having; yet we don't." Construction is already underway on two other projects that will connect to the convention center via pedestrian bridges: the 1,000-room Marriott Marquis Hotel and the Greater Houston Partnership Building, which will have a 2,000-space parking garage and a pad for a future boutique hotel. Next week, the city begins renovating the convention center's interior entries and façade, a project that also will create a major promenade along Avenida de las Americas. Nau, the president and CEO of Silver Eagle Distributors, has chaired the Texas Historical Commission and the national Advisory Council for Historic Preservation. He owns more than 18,000 Civil War and early Texas artifacts, many of which are tended by a full-time curator in museum-quality cases at Silver Eagle's headquarters on Old Katy Road. So he's keenly aware of both Houston's complex history and its reputation as a hard-to-define city that ignores its past. "We're never going to get beyond that until we give people a way to see the history," he said. "San Jacinto is one of the most important battlefields in Western civilization, but right now visitors are not going to find it." The Nau Center's footprint has grown to 70,000 square feet since early renderings by Ray Bailey Architects were released two years ago. It will have six major elements: the visitors' center, classrooms, a theater, two large gallery spaces of permanent exhibits, a gift shop and a fully-restored turn-of-the-century home. It will be a 21st century museum - a dynamic place designed to engage visitors of all ages. "It's an opportunity to surprise people about the Houston they never knew," said Patrick Gallagher of the Washington, D.C., design firm Gallagher & Associates. He wants people to leave thinking, "Wow, I never knew that." Gallagher's role has expanded since he was hired about six months ago to design the visitors' center. His firm is now also working on the galleries that will put Houston's story into perspective, based on two themes that epitomize the city's spirit. Whether you're talking about the state's birth at Washington-on-the-Brazos, Houston's founding at Allen's Landing, the influence of war and transportation on growth, technological achievements or how the city became a model of diversity, Nau said, Houstonians have always had big ideas and seize opportunities. "At the end of the day, it's about people and leadership." The visitors' center will occupy a rotunda that will be a gateway for regional tourism. Digital technology will enable visitors to customize trips across 29 Southeast Texas counties based on their interests and the length of their stays. Nau envisions a facility where a convention visitor can step in for a 30-minute break or an out-of-town family in Houston for a baseball game can explore other things the city has to offer. Many students will experience the museum on fourth- and seventh-grade field trips as part of the state's Texas history curriculum. Nau said they are following teachers' advice and will entertain as well as educate. http://www.houstonchronicle.com/life/article/Cultural-center-will-give-east-downtown-a-heart-5886674.php#/5 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luminare Posted November 12, 2014 Share Posted November 12, 2014 Hmm I didn't know they weren't covering the full lot. Looks like they will have plenty of room to expand in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigereye Posted November 12, 2014 Share Posted November 12, 2014 I see the Cohn house ...where's the Foley house? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triton Posted November 13, 2014 Share Posted November 13, 2014 Anything Foley related in this city seems to get demo'd. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montrose1100 Posted November 13, 2014 Share Posted November 13, 2014 Does the whole world watch the super bowl? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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