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Houston City Hall At 901 Bagby St.


MidtownCoog

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I've been in Houston since '81 and for the majority of that time the City Hall clock(s) have not been fully functional. Either the neon is out, or they're wildly inaccurate - or stopped.

From what I've read, they operate under some peculiar 1937 miracle of engineering - to set the time, a person on the ground would have to holler up to workmen to set each individual clock-face. I hope they'll modernize the works before re-installing the hands. Of course, the original appearance must be maintained; I'll shriek if they go digital. :P

As an aside, I'm sorry that more buildings don't integrate large public clocks - it used to be quite common. Even at the airports you have to go peer at one of those damn electronic screens to verify the time.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Yep. The scaffolding thing is still up.

A month of work and I can't tell what they did. I guess they sealed the rock.

I like buildings made out of that material (what do you call it?).

There are some at UH, and the fossils in the stone are amazing.

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Limestone, perhaps. It is sedimentary, which can allow for the fossils of which you speak.

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The hands are back up as of this morning. They were lit, too! Of course, the time was all wrong but, damnit, they're back up!

Isn't it time to take those clocks down from City Hall and replace them with digital clocks? :P

Atomic clocks no less so they are always right......

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No way! Neon looks cool when I am trippin.

(jk)

Acutaly, looking out my window at work today, all the work is done.

City Hall is looking mighty fine! Even the "pool" looks good enough to take a dip in. Even the roof was cleaned!

I love this funky city!

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  • 1 year later...

Most everyone who passes through the City Hall rotunda agrees the new reception desk is beautiful, with its imported marble and shiny trim, and spacious enough for both police and city security officers to monitor the building.

With a price tag of nearly $37,000, it also was expensive.

The desk was custom-made for the city by a local company that used marble from Italy to match the building's 1930s-style architecture. It made its debut in the lobby of City Hall several months ago, where it serves not only as a sign-in desk for visitors and a security station but also as a topic of conversation.

Though the city paid only half the cost of the large, L-shaped desk

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and that was just for a reception desk? The security guard or temp that will work around it should be proud to work in such style and class. Can you imagine what the mayor's office is like? 4 Star hotel? ie: Four Season's. :mellow:

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and that was just for a reception desk? The security guard or temp that will work around it should be proud to work in such style and class.

and i'll bet if we go look, there will already by dried bubble gum under it. :D

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and i'll bet if we go look, there will already by dried bubble gum under it. :D

If I go check it out I'm taking a crow bar in hand to pry off that fancy imported Italian jazz so I can take home and tile the floor. Since tax payers dished out $ for it. Everyone wants thier piece of the pie.

Yahoo! >:)

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For some reason, civic pride took a nosedive soon after WWII. The contrast is striking; courthouses, city halls, schools, bridges, fire houses and so on used to incorporate great design and substantial materials with impressive results. Heck, the average 19th century prison is more attractive than today's McMansions.

Houston may not have a Chrysler Building or a Grand Central Station, but we do have a City Hall of which we can proud. I'm glad it's not being cheapened with substandard materials.

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I agree, Tex. All day long, we read on here about how ugly Houston is, and how cheap they do things. Then, the City does something first class for one of its iconic buildings, and we get the gripes from the other direction.

Hats off to the good citizen who donated half of the purchase price for the desk. And Drake Townsend, the resident of SPRING, who is quoted in the article bitching about the expense, can kiss my HOUSTON tax paying ass. What do I care what a non-resident thinks of the City's expenditures?

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When I saw that story I figured whoever was complaining sure must have never bought any custom-made institutional furniture. Five figures is not outlandish for a custom made reception desk. If it was *really* nice I wouldn't be surprised by over $100,000. Kudos to Houston for not cheaping out on something that makes a strong first impression.

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For some reason, civic pride took a nosedive soon after WWII. The contrast is striking; courthouses, city halls, schools, bridges, fire houses and so on used to incorporate great design and substantial materials with impressive results. Heck, the average 19th century prison is more attractive than today's McMansions.

Houston may not have a Chrysler Building or a Grand Central Station, but we do have a City Hall of which we can proud. I'm glad it's not being cheapened with substandard materials.

Here, here.

The thing is though, most of these people have probably never been inside City Hall. I suspect the reporter just went around asking people, "What do you think of the city spending $37,000 on a new desk in City Hall?"

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Houston is one of 16 cities worldwide selected to receive funding for a "green makeover" of our City Hall, in an effort to reduce energy consumption.

"Sixteen cities around the world will get financing to "go green" by renovating buildings they own with technology designed to cut carbon emissions, former President Clinton announced Wednesday.

Clinton's foundation has created an arrangement among four energy service companies and five global banking institutions that will result in major environmental upgrades in the cities, which include New York, Chicago, Houston, Toronto, Mexico City, London, Berlin, Tokyo and Rome."

http://news.wired.com/dynamic/stories/C/CL...EMPLATE=DEFAULT

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/05/city_halls_to_g.php

Your thoughts?

Edited by Blake
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What's to think about? Anyone that wants to give the City of Houston free resources is welcomed to in my book. I really don't care what they're used for.

i agree. buildings that are super-tight need to have specialized hvac systems too which cost more to install and require a bit more maintenance to ensure enough fresh air is introduced into the building. i worked in one new green building that made many people sick because the offgassing of the materials inside. not enough fresh air was being introduced so the offgassed air tended to remain in the building making people ill. the building engineers ended up having to leave the fire exhaust fan on for over a month which forced fresh air to enter the buildings. unfortunately this resolution came more than 6 months after we moved in.

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