SoonerFanInHouston

Would someone please explain to me where the old Texaco building is. Is it that building that looks bad and is the tallest looking from the South? I hope so. I have often wished someone would redo that building since it is an eyesore when heading into downtown from the south.

One good point about someone building in Houston would be that they could become THE tourist attraction here, since we do not really have anything that curently stands out like that. We have other things that many other cities have, but a Disney could be a major draw. Someone like Disney might want that. People coming into town would have to go to disney and Houston could market itself around a Disney park.

The land on Montrose from Allen Parkway to Dallas is going to be a Muslim Center. Looks pretty nice actually. They are not calling it a mosque, which I do not know the difference. See posting on the Montrose Board for more details and I posted a Chronicle article and others posted pics of similar ones in other cities.

It is being torn down and turned into a Muslim center. See today's Chronicle:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headli...iz/4337706.html

Muslim center planned for Allen Parkway

By NANCY SARNOFF

Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

The Aga Khan Foundation has purchased an 11.3-acre parcel of land along Allen Parkway and Montrose, including the historic Robinson Warehouse.

The international development nonprofit organization plans to build an Ismaili Center on the property. The facility will be similar to existing Muslim centers in Vancouver, London and Lisbon. It will include a prayer hall, classrooms, offices and a multipurpose social hall, said Zahir Janmohamed, CEO of the Aga Khan Council for the USA.

The design concept and development timeline have not been determined.

The property, which runs along Montrose from Allen Parkway to West Dallas, includes the Robinson Warehouse at 2323 Allen Parkway The 1920s building was the first Sears department store in Houston, according to the Greater Houston Preservation Alliance. It will be demolished to make room for the new project.

It is being torn down and turned into a Muslim center. See today's Chronicle:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headli...iz/4337706.html

Muslim center planned for Allen Parkway

By NANCY SARNOFF

Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

The Aga Khan Foundation has purchased an 11.3-acre parcel of land along Allen Parkway and Montrose, including the historic Robinson Warehouse.

The international development nonprofit organization plans to build an Ismaili Center on the property. The facility will be similar to existing Muslim centers in Vancouver, London and Lisbon. It will include a prayer hall, classrooms, offices and a multipurpose social hall, said Zahir Janmohamed, CEO of the Aga Khan Council for the USA.

The design concept and development timeline have not been determined.

The property, which runs along Montrose from Allen Parkway to West Dallas, includes the Robinson Warehouse at 2323 Allen Parkway The 1920s building was the first Sears department store in Houston, according to the Greater Houston Preservation Alliance. It will be demolished to make room for the new project.

What building is the old Texaco building they speak of?

Thanks for the info cwr... The Hyde Park civic association meeting is this Saturday at Just Lunch basically across the street from all of this. I will try to bring this situation up and reference the rudz parking lot and the history you mentioned here. I agree that parking lot is an eyesore. If those three corners were done right, even if one was still a parking lot, it could vastly improve the area.

The mid-rise condo you mentioned for the NE corner has been fought by the civic club all of 2006 and last I heard that developer has backed off. I will check on that this Sat too.

Thanks again for the info on the Rudz parking lot. If you have any more specific details or documentation like those architect plans, I would appreciate that too. Let me know and I will provide my personal email if you do.

I must mention, I am not for running off Rudz or the corner store. Both are great and are an asset to the community. They provide places that can be walked too also. I would not mind if both threw a new coat of paint on them, but as they are they have character too. I just hope the other 3 corners can be used in a good way as well.

The old gas station just came down this week. Some of the remains have not been removed yet though as of last night.

I guess everyone has their own opinion, but to me it was an eye sore. It was covered in graffiti. There was always garbage and broken bottles all over in front from the homeless that hung around there. Most of the windows were broken out. The door kept getting broken open. Rumor was that there were crack heads living in there. Also, the rumor was that they were the ones that kept catching the vacant house next door on fire too. I am all for historic preservation and salvaging older buildings but there was not much that could be done with this tiny little building that was smaller then my closet. It was nice to see it go because it would have sat vacant for many years because I don't think other people could find use for it either.

You are probably right on the townhouses. It would be nice to have some nice retail though that would benefit the neighborhood and create something else to walk to.

Now that all 3 eye sores at that intersection have been torn down, what is the plan? Has anyone heard any rumors? There is a nice chunk of land that if used correctly could be nice for the neighborhood.

Buildings removed:

Small vacant gas station on corner of Welch and Waugh NE side.

Old dry cleaners on corner of Welch and Waugh NW side.

Vacant house on Welch that burned twice - the second time to the ground. It was next to the old gas station but on Welch.

On the SE side of Welch and Waugh is the parking lot for Rudz which I have always wondered if the right buyer came along if they would give that up. But then where would people park?

It wasn't the first retractable stadium. The Bob in Phoenix and Enron were both before it. Also Sky dome was the very first in Toronto for the Blue Jays and the Argonauts. Reliant was the first NFL retractable though.

I agree with your optimism though. I am too!

What they are running with is a study that I read about a few years back that said that since Houston Metro area goes so far west that in reality the center of the city is 10 miles west of downtown at the Beltway and I10. They said most of the time cities grow equally in all directions from the downtown. I remember thinking to myself when reading that at the time that I can think of several cities that do not match that. Mostly cities that sit on the water like Chicago, but also Dallas. Sorry I do not have a link to the article, but it was in the Chronicle or the Houston Business Journal. For those with time might be able to locate it.

Does anyone know if there are any plans to spruce up the downtown Foley's when it changes names. I have always thought that it looked run down, inside and out.

I am very familiar with Kings Island in Cincinnati. I used to live in Lexington, KY and drove up at least twice a summer to go. Excellent roller coasters especially the Beast (wooden rollercoaster). Also the racer. Has 2 tracks that run parallel and race each other. One goes frontward and the other backwards. I wish Houston could have an amusement park like Kings Island. It was out in the burbs too with plenty of land around it to grow and did just fine. They seemed to add a new major ride every off season.

Thanks for all of the responses

I think you missed the point of my post. Perhaps I did not make my self clear. I read the article this morning in the Chronicle about the former Astroworld site that you linked to already which is what made me think of my question. What I want to know it will we get another amusement park?

When they announced the closing of Astroworld all of the articles mentioned that we would probably get a new amusement park that is farther out where the land is cheaper. In a lot of cities this is common with their amusement parks. Astroworld was very unique in that it was so close to the city center. Has anyone heard anything on this happening soon? I do remember about 7 or 8 years ago there was a rumor that Disney was scouting land north of Katy for a park but it was not going to be rides since we already had Astroworld. Now that we do not have Astroworld, it would be really cool if Disney came in here with a park of rides and more. There is so much land out there they could build another Orlando Disneyworld if they wanted to. It would give Houston a huge tourist destination and the name of Disney would be cool to have in town. Also this would be basically half way between their other 2 parks in FL and CA - nice spacing.

If it is Disney or even someone else, this could be a great opportunity for the city to get a major tourist attraction. The city leaders need to get in the recruitment mode to give us tourist attractions. I never considered Astroworld to be a tourist attraction personally.

Any rumors on anything?

Thanks.

I would say a good place to watch will be the Richmond Arms on Richmond and Fountainview. They show a lot of Soccer in there and there are a lot of soccer fans in general that will watch the world cup that go in there. Lots of Brits, Scots, Irish and US in there. The bar will be cheering for the US unless we are playing one of those other countries and then it will be mixed.