I'm posting this as a new topic despite marc's wonderful "Houston Icon" topic. That topic seemed more about what *existing* buildings/monuments might be considered representative of the city although there were certainly a few original ideas as well. If the great and powerful mods choose to consolidate, so be it.
Here I'm looking for ideas on what you would "create" to be a new Houston icon. I've come up with two ideas, below.
The Petroleum Monument: This is a derrick-shaped large-scale monument dedicated to Houston's history as one of the most active energy cities in the world. I'm thinking 250'+ although a structure 500'+ might be appropriate (a la Tour Eiffel or the Gateway Arch) depending on its geographic placement. One thought I had was to build a Museum of Energy (perhaps a replacement for/expansion of the Weiss Energy Hall at HMNS at its base), owned by the HMNS itself. It could stand somewhere near the Museum district (perhaps on the south end closer to TMC) so as to not "stand out" too much - at 400-500 ft I believe it would be just over 100' taller than many of the TMC tallest.
Replacement for the Sam Houston Monument in Hermann Park: I'm thinking of a monument with the same basic style as the existing (mounted) monument on the green adjacent to HMNS. It would, however, take the entire green space (at least in width) and be proportionally as tall which (my calculations are VERY rough) would put it around 250' tall. Roughly, the Arch de Triomphe with a statue of Sammy-boy leading the troops to San Jacinto.
Other thoughts: I like the idea of a rocket garden in the city proper... perhaps somewhere near Sam Houston Park in downtown. This would IMO contrast nicely with the historic character of that park. I also like the idea of building a (smaller) monument to Houston's history as the first capital of the Republic of Texas, but this would not become a national or international icon IMO.
If you've got ideas, please let them flow. I'm just curious what others can think of.
(PS. I, for one, don't care for the "Spirit of Houston" concept proposed some years back. I felt it was monstrous but then again, some people didn't and that's OK.)
Hi all. I'm not really up-to-date on all that Metro is doing currently. I've heard of the proposed intermodal hub north of downtown (Hardy railyards, right?) and some of the proposals for light rail. Could someone just give me a rundown of what's under construction, what's being proposed, what is likely (and not), etc? Or, please point me to a summary link. While I consider myself intelligent I find it hard to sort through all the news articles and metro press releases to know what's actually happening and what's not. Sorry for my ignorance and thanks in advance for the help. (Oh, and sorry if "Going Up" is the wrong place for this. Just couldn't think of a better category to post.) Edit: Oh, and I said "Metro" but if you have info on tollroads and other things, I'd appreciate that too. I just like to keep up with this so I know what's going on around me.