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bobruss

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  1. bobruss
    Just curious Houston19514 Do you work for Central Houston? You always seem to have some inside info. If you do has Bob Eury left the stadium? He was always so positive and led both the Downtown District and Central Houston with such dignity and success. The city will miss him. He was instrumental in so many initiatives for downtown.
  2. bobruss
    Crawford was for Discovery Green in one instance.
  3. bobruss
    There were a ton of people at the convention center in anime and other comic costumes when we passed there on our way to the Post. I just forgot about that, but it sure was nice to see a crowd down town. Just think what its going to be like when Skanska finishes their downtown projects and adds another wrinkle to Discovery, and then we can see what Jim Crane develops around Minute Maid with all that property he's bundled. It's just amazing to me after spending 7 years living in the PPG building on the corner of Crawford and Franklin when it was a relative ghost town before the stadium was finished. The Jackson Barbecue location was a mexican ballroom featuring young girls who you paid to dance with. I never went but you could sure hear the juke box late at night, and I remember it had christmas lights on its marquee. I was running Cabo's at the time and would ride my bike to work.
  4. bobruss
    We went to the Post Market on Saturday at around six and had a hard time finding parking. There was a solid wall of people looking from the rooftop at downtown. Went inside and to my surprise and delight found the market brimming with people. The space next door to the market had a film festival going on that night. I think there was also a concert on the other side that night. So many in fact that we couldn't find a spot where six could sit comfortably and we went to the Ares to Blind Goat and the Pizza place. They weren't quite as busy but they had a pretty good crowd. There was a concert in Market Square and it was packed. The Astros game was going on and parking was incredibly expensive and full. We got lucky and found a street parking spot in front of the new Texas Tower. There were more people walking around downtown that I have seen in years. It was pretty incredible. When we finished we came out to even more people who were starting to stream back to the market square area after the astros game, which we won!! It was really exciting to see so many downtown. Id say the crowds are coming back downtown. Also saw some very strange street people acting even stranger which I had to explain to my six year old grandson.
  5. bobruss
    So it looks like they intend to take out the two houses west of the Rothko for the meditation garden and moving their offices and archives to Sul Ross, That makes a lot of sense. So essentially it's one long park with the Menil at one end and the Rothko at the other. Perhaps they would consider taking Mulberry out from Sul Ross to Branard eliminating the street between the two buildings, and create a continuous open space. Besides less traffic would be a good thing in that neighborhood.
  6. bobruss
    You won't believe the number of prints that Escher completed in his life. I cant remember going to an exhibition and seeing so many works by one artist. And etching, litho and woodcut prints are very time consuming and take great patience. I worked in the printmaking studios at u of h many years ago during my MFA years. It's quite remarkable the amount of work that he created.
  7. bobruss
    You might want to eat at the Kinder building cafe. Its really nice and extremely convenient since its in the museum.
  8. bobruss
    Thanks for the details Highrise Tower. Between you and Hindesky and City Living we don't miss anything. Really appreciate you guys dedication and hard work!
  9. bobruss
    This one seems to be taking longer than the others. I know Ardmore took a year. I wish they'd wrap this one up. It's been over a year and they still have work to do. I'm ready for MacGregor to open back up to Calhoun.
  10. bobruss
    Thanks for all the updates Hindesky. The new law school is such an improvement, and I like that its closer to the other buildings. I also noticed that they have cut a diagonal off the med school to the corner of MLK and OST to the train. They've already put in the sidewalk and lighting. I hated to see that area developed but it sure does look nice.
  11. bobruss
    From this angle it will look great!
  12. bobruss
    Im glad to see this back up to speed so to speak. This area of downtown sure needed some love. With the Exxon building sitting empty, the abandoned Holiday Inn, and the demo of the old historic Y, it just seemed dead. Now they've begun work on the Cullen center building repurposing it into residential. Maybe if they ever work out 45 and they actually tear down the Pearce Elevated, that will spur growth into that no mans land at the edge of downtown and Midtown, and the southwestern corner will come alive.
  13. bobruss
    Neither one of those apartment buildings were in very good shape. Trust me this is all good! Considering Lake Flato is the architect I have no doubt that if they felt that the homes would have been a better fit they would have come up with a plan to include them. They have always worked to save recyclable buildings. This will be a huge success.
  14. bobruss
    It reminds me of some of the public spaces that are prevalent in Citi Centre. It wouldn't surprise me if at some point they add some restaurant or bar taking advantage of that incredible view. It would become the new great date night restaurant. Then maybe go play 9 holes of golf at night on the east end. With that view it will be a very popular course. I can see salesman taking their down town clients to a late afternoon game and maybe a few drinks afterwards. Cant wait.
  15. bobruss
    Nice article on the front page of the New York Times about Buffalo Dave and his efforts to clean the trash out of Buffalo Bayou. Thats today Tuesday the 14th of June.
  16. bobruss
    Speaking of Buffalo Bayou. There is a great story on the cover of the New York Times today about Buffalo Dave and his efforts to keep Buffalo Bayou cleared of trash.
  17. bobruss
    This is the flood that's responsible for the Army Corp of Engineers constructing Barker and Addicks Dam and spillway in the 40's, creating the reservoirs on western Buffalo Bayou.
  18. bobruss
    R.E. Bob Smith did own the land that the Astrodome was built on. He was one of Judge Roy Hofheinz partners in making the Astrodome happen. I have a very interesting 11 x 20 black and white photo of the groundbreaking for the stadium. Instead of shovels, this group of men are wearing dusters and black raincoats and are aiming Colt 45's at the ground, in honor of their original teams name. It's a great photo. They look like a posse. One other fact. When they first built colt 45 stadium there was a very well known amusement park next door called Playland Park on south Main. It had a great wooden rollercoaster and bumper cars and many other rides. Right next door to Playland Park was a stock car race track and just down the road was a short test track monorail that had been built to present a life size replica of the monorail for Houston in the 60's. If I remember it went about 2 blocks. I went on a ride and hoped they would build this very Buck Rogers retro cars.
  19. bobruss
    You are correct about the way the jails and courts work. The thing that bothers me is how the county ended up with the most interesting property in downtown. They own most of the land north of Preston from Main to Austin. The county just purchased a 17 story office building at 1111 Fannin to consolidate their offices downtown. That would seem to me to suggest they might have several old dated properties in north downtown available for sale in the future. Or they could consolidate all of the prisoners in a new jail built on one of those buildings sites adjacent to or in very close proximity to the courts. There is an 8 - 10 story jail on Franklin and Caroline, that sits empty due to poor design. A new jail needs to be built. Perhaps they could be persuaded to rethink the management of their property downtown to more efficient use. They could also make a lot of money if they sold some of that land. Both sides of the bayou should be parkland. The old buildings that sit in the flood plane and deter the flow of Buffalo Bayou are doing no-one any good. Up until a few years ago there was a jail across the street from Minute Maid Park on the north end of Crawford at Preston. There is still a Federal prison in downtown on Texas Ave. and San Jacinto. My point being that a jail need not interfere with the surrounding area. I doubt that most people even knew they existed.
  20. bobruss
    I don't know what all the fuss is. We have seen several park projects around town developed in the last ten years and the affect they have had on the surrounding areas. What happened when Discovery Green, and Market Square Park were created or redesigned. Both have shown how development follows. Nobody hung out on Crawford and Mckinney back when I lived on the east side of downtown. Now try and find a parking place around that area. Look at the residential towers that have been built around Market Square park since its revitalization. For too long people have settled for bare bones solutions. Great cities think ahead and come up with solutions that are both helpful in mitigating problems, while creating solutions that invite development. Also when my wife and I were looking back in the 90's at property over near Washington Ave. we thought there was a lot of potential for future growth and a lively neighborhood. I felt like there was too much heavy industry and railroad tracks and that it would be a long way off. There was a steel plant right on the corner of Yale and Washington. There were heavy polluters in old metal warehouses. It looked bleak but look at it now. So don't ever tell me how bad an area looks. You have to have vision to see the bones to understand future growth patterns. The jails could probably be moved and with property values going up that might be in the back of the mind of county fathers anyway. There are jails everywhere and other cities have made those areas workable neighborhoods.
  21. bobruss
    Hindesky, Very nice images. The last one when enlarged really gives you the sense of just how close it is between downtown and this building. From this view and time of night it really accentuates that volume of space and It seems to pull downtown to its doorsteps. I always like seeing the boundary pushed a little farther out. I imagine its altered the skyline when seen from the loops.
  22. bobruss
    I find it usually best to make critical analysis once the project is finished. There are just too many unfinished details to fairly judge the building. I'll reserve my opinion until it's done.
  23. bobruss
    We didn't have a port and we dug a fifty mile long one. Now #2 or 3 in tonnage We didn't have a rail and we built one. now we have three lines with plans for expansion We didn't have a space port and were building one. We didn't have an incubator and now we have 4. Just give it time and we will find our niche and for the first time there will be opportunities for interaction between the different members of the med center and it will grow and prosper just like all the above. We now have one of the best and highest ranked airports in the world in Hobby.
  24. bobruss
    Has anyone contacted the builder or developer directly to find out what the holdup is?
  25. bobruss
    So at roughly 20,000 sq. ft. a floor this must be the shorter of the two buildings coming out at roughly 17 or 18 floors, if its 350,000. total sq. ft. right?
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