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JPMorgan Chase Tower At 600 Travis St.


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No clue what it was, several more showed up as well as ambulances and tahoes. It appeared that smoke was coming out of the top. They were out there for around an hour then just left.

Six fire trucks show up at cvx tower every week

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http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/The-Sky-Lobby-at-Chase-Tower-is-now-closed-to-the-8315663.php

 

"The 60th floor Sky Lobby at the Chase Tower in Downtown Houston has recently closed to the public, according to a representative.  According to a representative, the closure is permanent and was done in the interest of the building's tenants."

 

 

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Sky lobby is shut down to the public until further notice.

 

I asked the front desk about it and they said the problem was that large groups were creating issues for the tenants. Basically, the people in the lobby would ask the group to stage outside, or in a specific location, and the groups were not following those instructions. They also mentioned that tenants were complaining of room in the elevators to access the upper floors that are only accessible via the express elevator to the sky lobby.

 

They left it open ended that it might be re-opened to the public again at a later date.

 

For the groups of 1 to 4 (mom, dad and kids) it sucks that larger groups have taken away this really cool feature. It was always fun to be in the elevator and hear the expressions a young child would make as the doors would open at the sky lobby.

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53 minutes ago, j_cuevas713 said:

This is stupid. Houston needs something like this. How can the Sears tower in Chicago handle tons of tourists, yet a few tenants here in Houston are complaining?

 

Hopefully it isn't permanent. the way they said it made me think they were going to close it till they came up with a solution to the complaints.

 

It is stupid, but it's also annoying needing to get on an elevator and walking into either the lower lobby, or the sky lobby and having it so packed that you can't get to an elevator. and the people blocking you aren't even trying to get on an elevator, they're just standing there. They do need to come up with a solution. They chose to close it while they are coming up with that solution. Hopefully the end solution isn't to leave it closed.

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1 hour ago, j_cuevas713 said:

This is stupid. Houston needs something like this. How can the Sears tower in Chicago handle tons of tourists, yet a few tenants here in Houston are complaining?

 

Sears Tower was designed and built specifically to handle tourists going to an observation level, with separate elevators and separate building entrances.  And the Sears Tower observation level was designed as just that. It's not an elevator lobby doubling as an observation room.

 

Edited by Houston19514
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46 minutes ago, Montrose1100 said:

The one cool, family friendly thing to do Downtown... 

 

Oh well, Wells Fargo is still accessible. Could always pretend to be interested in booking an event on top of 1 Shell Plaza for a "tour" and sneak some pics.

 

Seriously?  There are now no cool family friendly things to do downtown?  Get a grip, dude.

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Is this the first time anyone can think of where tourism ruined something in Houston for the rest of us?  We've arrived!  Also, if it's the tour group company I am thinking of, this doesn't surprise me at all that they didn't follow instructions and were generally a hassle.    

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23 minutes ago, Houston19514 said:

 

Seriously?  There are now no cool family friendly things to do downtown?  Get a grip, dude.

If there was a pie chart of my opinion (get a grip if you don't agree), of cool things to do Downtown, and family friendly things, the only small sliver in the middle would be the sky lobbies.

 

aquarium? Sports games? Water feature in Disco Green? Bowling? City Hall Visitor's center? Uncool.

 

Sky Lobbies? Cool.

 

 

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1 hour ago, Montrose1100 said:

The one cool, family friendly thing to do Downtown... 

 

Oh well, Wells Fargo is still accessible. Could always pretend to be interested in booking an event on top of 1 Shell Plaza for a "tour" and sneak some pics.

http://www.chron.com/homes/commercial/article/Some-of-Houston-s-best-views-are-going-private-4735971.php

Quote

At Wells Fargo Plaza, 1000 Louisiana, two-story "sky lobbies" on the 34/35th and 57/58th floors are no longer open to the public.

Did they reverse course on that?

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2 hours ago, samagon said:

 

Hopefully it isn't permanent. the way they said it made me think they were going to close it till they came up with a solution to the complaints.

 

It is stupid, but it's also annoying needing to get on an elevator and walking into either the lower lobby, or the sky lobby and having it so packed that you can't get to an elevator. and the people blocking you aren't even trying to get on an elevator, they're just standing there. They do need to come up with a solution. They chose to close it while they are coming up with that solution. Hopefully the end solution isn't to leave it closed.

I don't know the elevator traffic amount but perhaps a solution is to have one elevator dedicated to tourists and have it clearly marked. Perhaps they can block all elevators to tourists during peak hour usage... morning hours, noon, and afternoon hours.

 

Quote

Sears Tower was designed and built specifically to handle tourists going to an observation level, with separate elevators and separate building entrances.  And the Sears Tower observation level was designed as just that. It's not an elevator lobby doubling as an observation room.

Even if you're trying to play devil's advocate for the lobby closing, you have to admit it is a big loss not to have this lobby open to the public. This is by far one of the top spots I take out of towners to awe them with the size and landscape of Houston. Brought a client from Boston here just 2 weeks ago and she just had to take photos of it all. Besides the tunnels and Discovery Green, that was one of her big moments in downtown. Even after I posted this news on my Facebook, a lot of people told me they were pissed off about this... I feel like they even redesigned this lobby to impress more people. Can't see why this place cannot function as both.

 

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8 hours ago, adr said:

Also, if it's the tour group company I am thinking of, this doesn't surprise me at all that they didn't follow instructions and were generally a hassle.    

 

That's exactly what I was thinking.  We were above 60 for a decade or so before the tour companies started up, and the tourists weren't really a problem then - even the senior groups put together by various county commissioners or the occasional bunch of students.  OTOH, some of the commercial tour groups are a nuisance even on the streets - they just don't seem to know how to share.

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Here's an idea, close the lobby to the public during business hours, and open it a few extra hours on the weekdays and general hours on the weekend!

 

During winter, I went right before it closed and snapped some awesome twilight pictures. A night view is equally as cool as a daytime.

 

edit: charge a small fee. Nothing outrageous like the Shard. Should cover the costs of security and such. They keep big towers like this A/C'd on the weekends right?

Edited by Montrose1100
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You've got to be freaking kidding me.. The one "legitimate" observation deck this city still has left, and they decide to close it? Ugh.

I used to not really care for the idea of building an observation tower in Houston, but at this point I would welcome one.

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