lokithebubba

I was able to ride into the stadium today.

I remember that place. Near it was a small Italian restaurant where I had my first Calzone.  They were really good.

Ruggeiro's (sp?), they had great Sicilian pizza.

On a related note, just north of Hillcroft and Main, but still south of W Airport, there uses to be a dive-through milk store called Mr Fresh.  I worked there as a fifteen year-old back in the mid-70s.  I would even have to close up, lock up, and put the receipts in the safe alone after 10 pm.  I can't imagine that happening today.

I think the racetrack was is now where Bulter staduim is

No.  Meyer Speedway and Butler Stadium were next door to each other.  Meyer Speedway was the where the empty land now is between Butler and Hillcroft.  I grew up in South Westbury, between Chimney Rock and Hillcroft.  I could listen to track meets with my window open back then.  If you look closely at Google Earth you can see the outline of the old oval.  The north edge is about even with the baseball field at Butler.

just take the upper decks down....done....

If they could take down just the upper east it would be awesome.  The front of the upper west is already a great place to watch football.  Without the east the view of the campus and med center would be awesome.  Alas, I don't think it's possible to take it off easily.

Construction cam

http://www.riceowls.com/ot/bpspc-construction-cam.html

My feeble attempt to cycle to and photograph the fountains inside the loop.  A work in progress...

 

https://www.facebook.com/TheHoustonFountainProject

Nine albums of photos up now.

Construction fence up as of yesterday

Tarp is off the north endzone in preparation.

https://twitter.com/Chronicle_Owls/status/563834154865811457/photo/1

First signs of the coming project

So they moved away from... the proposed field house/gymnasium in that location?  Or was I mistaken that the east grandstands were to be partially replaced by that proposed field house/gymnasium at some point?

The previous plan was to tear out and renovate the south endzone facilities.  The plan that is moving forward is to do the building on the north, so it opens on both the field and the practice facility.  I don't think there was ever a plan to include a field house/gymnasium.  Tudor Fieldhouse had a $23mm makeover in 2007.

My feeble attempt to cycle to and photograph the fountains inside the loop.  A work in progress...

https://www.facebook.com/TheHoustonFountainProject

There is an unused art-deco building at the NW corner of Taft and Genessee that stands on HISD land, just south of the Gregory-Lincoln Education Center. That site has been chosen as the spot for the new building to house Carnegie Vanguard High School (they desperately need it, they are currently in an old elementary school building). Four potential site plans have been produced by HISD. Two of them retain and restore this building, two of them do not. There is probably a way to comment on this idea via the HISD web site, but I have not looked at it.

http://img9.imagesha.../image029gm.jpg

Sears update in today's Chronicle

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headli...es/5924010.html

Just got an email today for the Westbury class of 1978 30th reunion. Any classmates out there?

Thank you, gnu.

That's it exactly. And there is an odd shaped building that might be part of the same structure on the right.

On the cover, middle of the top half, there is what appears to be a roller-coaster. From what I can tell, it would be on the south bank of White Oak Bayou. Anyone know anything about this?

It's my understanding from tonights Meyerland board meeting that this property was purchased by the city of Houston for construction of a detention pond. I believe that some of the land around the pond will be used as a park.

Excellent news. I'd not seen that.

The entire area has been leveled. I don't know what they are putting up, but all the trees are gone now. It looks like they are grading roads in the property. Must be another set of overpriced houses right up against each other in a flood plain...

For those interested generally, try to find the book "Miniature Golf" by Margolies. Probably out of print now, but you;ll recognize it if you see it in a used book store. It's the one with an astroturf cover.

http://www.amazon.com/Miniature-Golf-Recol...3133&sr=1-1

When I was a kid I used to go out there with my Dad in the 50's and 60's. I 'm pretty sure it was a full 18 hole course back then, later scaled back to a regular 9.

If I remember correctly. The way you got eighteen holes at South Main was to play to each of the nine greens from two different tees each.

First Houston Country Club course was on Dallas, then San Felipe Road. It latrer moved to the site where Gus Wortham is now.

There was a par 3 course at Stella Link and Main, and another at Witte and Old Katy.

The par 3 course between Stella Link and Main, Willowbend was the southern boundary, was called South Main Golf Club. When I moved to Houston in '68 it was not a par three course but had 4's and 5's also. (I lived two houses off Stella Link on hole 2). It went as far north as the old apartments on O'Meara on the north. There is a bar called Sammy's Fifth Hole at Stella Link and Bellfort where the fifth hole ended.

About half of it was sold for commercial property in the '80s. That was when it became a par-3 course.

Some of the greens are still visible as mounds on the indeveloped land near Willowbend.