marmer

It would be a real shame to lose Jones Hall, not only architecturally but also historically. It's a really good symbol of the city's maturation as an arts center in the sixties. To address some of the comments in this thread: Continental seating (with no center aisle) is a way to bring more seats closer to the stage. Code requires that the cross aisles be somewhat wider, but the seats that would be lost to an aisle would have to be farther back if you are going to have the same seating count. The venue's acoustical failings are basically due to two issues (maybe three): a) it's too big it's a multipurpose space c) the fabrics are sort of plush and therefore absorptive. Additionally, the fan shape, while desirable for sightlines, is less favorable for classical music. My good friend Larry Kirkegaard of Kirkegaard and Associates, probably the finest acoustician in the world, did substantial work on Jones Hall in the Eschenbach years, making a noticeable improvement. One of his most obvious suggestions was to use the movable ceiling to close off the upper balcony, reducing the seating and the interior volume. Jones Hall seats about 3000, which is a concession to its multipurpose origin. Only the Cincinnati Symphony plays in a larger venue. (Municipal Auditorium) Most other purpose-built orchestra halls seat about 2000. Purpose built orchestra halls tend to have built in shell ceilings and walls and tend to be rectangular in shape (like mine, Stude Concert Hall at Rice.) If the HSO ever gets their own hall, it should be somewhere other than the site of Jones Hall. Jones Hall is way too valuable for touring shows, SPA, etc. and an orchestra hall wouldn't accomodate those very well. I'll probably write more later. I have to go run a performance venue now

Yah, I've been driving past that intersection for about seventeen years now. The building had gotten pretty shabby when it was the Third Church of Christ, Scientist. Nice to see it improved, though I'm not sure there's really enough parking for major events there. I remember watching the Turnverein's decline and eventual demo, too. Yes, there are some interesting old buildings on Almeda Road. It's well worth a drive down.

Is it this?

Thanks, guys! I was going to bump this to its own topic too, but you did it better. Especially thanks to SpaceAge for the description. I've loved this house ever since driving around Braesheather in the mid-80s and going "What the h_ll is that?" (also easily done on Glenmeadow!) In missjanel's post (props, janel, for bringing this to our attention) she said that the new owner said that "mold and neglect" had done this house in. I'm sorry, but I go to the Galveston Historical Homes Tour every year, and there's almost always at least one house that is either restored or undergoing restoration from far, far worse condition (fire damage, years of neglect, etc.) I don't get it. It's almost enough to wish that the City would place a moratorium on demolition of any building not condemned as unsafe by the city.

Not to hijack the thread or anything, but the second Dillards in Brazos Mall appeared many years after the Joske's/Dillards transition. I think it was just a local expansion based on the sudden availability of new space.

Dillard's at Brazos Mall in Lake Jackson was the exact same way for a while. They took over the old Beall's location and had their men's clothes there. I think they're back in their old original location now.

This is true, and it has been this way for at least ten years. There are a few crossings in Brazoria County where there's still a flashing yellow light. FM ?1462? to Rosharon, maybe.

Like so much in classical music, it's tradition. Certainly when most well-known operas were written there was no good way to amplify singers. That's why so many opera singers grew to such large sizes (it's not over 'til the fat lady sings) because they had to build up their lung capacity and breath support. Miking singers has really only become practical in the last thirty years or so, and even then I'm sure you've seen shows where it didn't work well. It has become standard in modern productions of Broadway type shows but I've never seen it in a traditional opera. Remember, too, operas are LONG. Two and a half hours is standard and longer is common. Some early operas would last as long as five hours (that would be a week's worth of entertainment, you see) and it really takes a huge amount of stamina to sing that long.

Music Hall: I'm pretty sure that garage was built in the 30's, and most cars then were narrower than now, and much smaller than they were by the late 50s. Still, it didn't have the benefit of modern planning or engineering. It was just a giant open space. New Brutalist: yes. Also the Houston Post building on 610 and the former HISD admin building. Wortham balcony: agreed, the stairs are scary, the interrupted railings understandable (sight lines) but weird, and the seats are far too small and the aisles too narrow. Generally speaking, for opera, you don't want your theatre to be too big of a rectangular box. That means seats are added by going higher (as in the Galveston 1894 Opera House) instead of farther back (as in Jones Hall and the late somewhat lamented Music Hall.) The reason is that with fly space and sets over the stage house you can't have a reflective ceiling "shell" over the stage to direct sound toward the audience as you would for an orchestra concert and even professional singers have a limit to how loud they can sing, unamplified, for hours at a time. I think both the Brown and Cullen Theatres of Wortham are lovely places to see and hear an opera, but I do feel the balcony and Grand Tier seats are too small and too close together. It's a conundrum: how do you balance ticket prices, auditorium size, and seat size? You'd like to sell 3000 tickets but only sing in a room that's big enough for 1000 seats. The trade-off decisions are made and that leads to small seats (to fit more in) and expensive tickets (cause you don't have very many to sell). That's why Broadway houses are so cramped (plus the fact they're really old.)

When the Houston Symphony played there in beginning in the '50s until Jones Hall was built, there was quite a bit of acoustical work done with wall treatments, reflectors, etc. It was relatively reverberative because of its size, which is desirable for orchestral music and less so for theatre. The occasional rock or jazz concert there tended to be very successful. The production issues had more to do with the size of backstage and support areas, hallways, stairs, loading dock, orchestra pit, etc. Those things are really hard to re-do. Not so much lighting, rigging, or audio equipment. I never felt unsafe there, but it was cramped and the angles were too steep. It was certainly not built with modern cars in mind. As far as I know it was one of the first parking garages downtown. I've gotta disagree with you there. The "no center aisle" design is called "continental seating" and I've never had a problem with it in Jones Hall. It's the best way to get seats closer to the stage with better sight lines. When it is done, code requires a much wider aisle than it does in theatres with center aisles. I also love musicals in the Alley. Of course they don't have a pit, so they have to do non-traditional shows or stagings. But I've seen several and never a bad one. We'll just have to agree to disagree on the exterior. I think it is the best New Brutalist building in Houston, and one of the only ones left. It looks like a castle to me. The lobby addition to the Music Hall happened in the '50s. It was the glass walled wraparound lobby, and yes, the restrooms were downstairs. I don't know why older theatres had so many fewer restrooms, but I have noticed that too. Most of the stairs and floors in the Music Hall common areas were hard institutional tile rather than the carpet found in newer venues. I was always afraid of falling and hurting myself on the stairs, and the lobby was deafeningly noisy. Of course their attempts to retrofit to ADA standards looked really tacked on, too, and I'm not sure if there even was an elevator to the balcony.

Jones Hall and the Alley are both really good examples of their day's architecture. And they work pretty well for what they do. Especially the Alley, which is a perfect place to see a stage play. I always thought that the acoustics were one of the best things about the Music Hall. Having said that, the backstage spaces and theatrical equipment were not up to the requirements of most modern shows, especially touring ones. And lots of the seats were really far away. And the restrooms and lobby were woefully inadequate. And we lost the horrible Coliseum too, don't forget, which was a worthless venue as far as I could tell. Every time I went to the Music Hall I thought "I like Art Deco and old buildings, and the acoustics are pretty good. So why do I hate it here?" It looked like a low-budget municipal version of Jones Hall. And the MCM-inspired '50s lobby addition just looked incongruous. The smaller sizes of the two Hobby theatres work much better for local arts groups. I tend to be strongly anti-demolition and tend to think that many new Houston structures are not improvements over what they replace. The Hobby Center is probably the most shining counter-example in Houston.

Yes, it's the Tennison/One Bayou Park. I took pictures when I was down there last weekend and she positively identified it. The parking garage openings are indeed covered with wrought iron/copper leaves. There are even little arches at the top. Thanks for all the replies!

No, the Allen-Paul house (Witches Hat house) looked like this: Photo by Gerald Moorhead, FAIA, from the _Houston Architectural Guide_, first edition, 1990, by Stephen Fox and Gerald Moorhead. This looks like an 1880s Victorian, maybe in what would become Midtown? Couldn't find a match on http://www.houstonhistory.com/poduct2/album3/jsalbum.html Most houses that looked similar were built around 1895.

I thought of the Tennison right away and we looked at pictures, which she didn't seem to think were what she saw. She had a voice recorder with her and she tried to record the street names at the intersection, but it didn't work. She was pretty clear that one of the streets was Bagby. She remembered arches and wrought iron, and couldn't really give me more of a description -- tall, short, old, whatever. Sorry. She's not the architecture nut in the family, and she was lost and probably a little flustered. But I guess I should be flattered that she thought I'd know right away what it was! Subdude, the Cotton Exchange building is certainly striking and memorable. I don't see a lot of wrought iron, but I will show the picture to her.

My wife was driving around downtown and she got lost. Somewhere near Franklin and Bagby she saw a building she described as "very striking with big arches and elaborate wrought iron." Franklin and Bagby is the former Tennison Hotel, now One Bayou Park or whatever. There's a parking garage with rectangular openings and ?chain link? but she doesn't think that's what she saw. She may be mistaken about the street, but she was westbound trying to leave the downtown area, and she was near I-45. She eventually wound up on Washington Street. Any ideas? I thought of Las Alamedas but she wasn't THAT lost!

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.

Houston Country Club Place Newsletter

I'm speechless. This is an amazing article and pictures. Great job, Ben and Jason! Thanks a lot for setting the bar so high! marmer

I've never heard of Allen Williams. Do you have any pictures? I've also never seen anything else by Arthur Moss except the Penguin Arms. Do you know of any other projects of his? marmer

In looking at this area on Live Local, I noticed that someone, either apartments or more likely the house next door, has a pool shaped exactly like a grand piano. This is clearly deliberate, not a coincidence. Anyone have any ideas who did that? To my knowledge, Elton John, Liberace, Ray Charles, Billy Joel, or Jerry Lee Lewis never lived here! Hey, BenH, did you ever find out any more about that Memorial-area house with the Goff-esque curvy roof shingles? marmer

I found a listing for it at UH's Architecture School Visual Resources center, though the link seems to have disappeared. http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:cFfhg...cd=21&gl=us marmer

I went on Saturday. It started out windy and cold but got pleasant by late afternoon. Biking was definitely the way to go for this one. I parked at Rice and rode my bike to the houses. Little traffic, no parking problem, much less time than walking. Saw all of them in about four hours. 2015 Albans: Nice interiors and courtyard, friendly, pretty calico cat. 2201 Albans: Loved the original screen porch. 1825 Albans: Probably my favorite of the "hard" mods. It had a certain warmth and liveability about it. 1809 Dunstan: My favorite on the tour. Great use of natural light, lots of neo-moderne touches like the segmented window glass and the brick details. A boy's paradise with all the sports equipment, electronics lab, model airplanes, and vintage cars and Indian motorcycles! 1901 Bolsover: Really interesting because of its originality. Trash chutes, basement with coal furnace, plaster details in the (now enclosed) screen porch, lovely terra-cotta and black tile original bathroom with original shower stall and domed tub enclosure. 2011 Quenby: Carlos Jimenez. Lots of light, but a little cold for me. I thought the color and scale worked well though. 2129 Quenby: Well, if you want small, simple, and stark, this is the house for you. I thought it was a little too understated. 2217 Bolsover: Spectacular use of interior color. An 80's house that has aged well. Second-floor deck was a nice amenity. The owners were present and happy to explain their remarkably eclectic art collection. 2307 Dunstan: Probably the most spectacular house, a multi level essay by Tom Wilson, who was present in the house. The interior levels were particularly effective, especially the second floor screened dining porch and the sunken living room. Bedrooms were scattered throughout the upper and lower floors. I would think that all the level changes, many somewhat hard to see, would be a fall hazard. A small swimming pool was in the front yard, screened by a brick privacy fence. I went to Rice with the eldest daughter of this family, though I didn't know her all that well and had never seen the house before. I too noticed some spectacular bamboo and more than one of the houses had small wading-pools with fountains in their back courtyard. The close-set houses, backyard courtyards, alleys, and lush landscaping reminded me of Galveston, though the houses were not architecturally similar to most Galveston houses. Although these homes are not as large as those found in River Oaks, Broadacres, or Shadyside, they are all quite opulent. (well, except for 2129 Quenby!) All in all it was among the best home tours I've ever attended. Great job by the docents, too, for being welcoming and informative. I took a few exterior pictures; if any seem particularly good I'll post them. marmer

Last Concert: I was in a blues band that played there several times in the early 90s. Fun place. Yes, you did have to knock to get in back then. Pretty much the closest person, waiter, customer, whoever would just open the door. When we were loading in audio gear we'd pull one of the curtains over from the nearest window to kinda keep the door from closing. Most of their back area is basically open air. In nice weather it was great. Highly recommended. I don't know if they have noise issues now that there are lofts nearby. marmer

As I mentioned earlier in the Brazosport High School thread in Houston Mod, the Dow Administration Building (now called A.P. Beutel Building) is by Mackie and Kamrath.

Did you know Dauri Reimer? She lived just outside of Brazoria but went to Brazoswood. She was a classmate of mine in the 1980 graduating class and she then went to A&M. I remember it well, both on Second Street and then in the park, but I never went there. I didn't really like root beer and neither did my parents, so we never had any reason to go. I did like Bryan Beach because you could drive on it and there were no glass container restrictions (good beer didn't come in cans back then.) Also it wasn't usually very crowded. Brazos Twin. Sure. I went a few times. I believe either Hurricane Allen or Alicia put the screens down for good in the early 80s. Mine, too, though he died in 1995. My mother still lives there in our old house on Acacia Street. But I can't say nothing ever changes. Of note: The relentless suburbanization and chain-store frenzy of the area around Brazos Mall on 332. The sale and residential development of the Dow Park at the lake. The advancing deterioration of most of the original housing stock in Lake Jackson. (Most of the older neighborhoods are somewhat seedy now) The major restructuring of 288 through Angleton. New highways and bridges between Freeport, Jones Creek, and Quintana. Surfside Beach Park, Quintana Beach Park, and the LNG terminal at Quintana. Thanks for re-opening the thread! marmer