Specwriter

Old man yelling at the clouds - that's me. I come by my fixation on grammar and punctuation honestly; I had the "meanest" English teachers in school you could imagine. In this case I think it was just carelessness but really! The error I find most frustrating is not only the misuse but misunderstanding of "its," a possessive without the apostrophe and "it's" the contraction of "it is." That is closely followed by the use of "their" as the singular third person possessive instead of "his" or "her" but I've pretty much given up on that one.

I just watched the video. Very nice and eerily realistic (except all the people seem to Anglo and nothing else). I do wonder why "caninos" (first letter not capitalized) is on the gable end of one pavilion. Is the family still involved? Where naming rights sold with the land? Keeping that bit of tradition does not upset me though. I like it One thing I will bring up, since I'm on a grammar tear today, is the signage at what must be the main entry and which reads "HOUSTON FARMER'S MARKET." Why is the possessive of FARMER'S singular and not plural, i.e., FARMERS' ? Is there only one farmer?

I do like this rendering. Maybe I'm too picky but the single word "apart" means separate or different from as in "Keep those two dogs apart; they do not get along." If Twitter1 is asking if the development is a part (a constituent of) Greenway Plaza I would say no. It is interesting that Twitter1 put quotes around "apart." Maybe he or she was just baiting someone like me, a grammar obsessive/compulsive. I also share confusion about which buildings are and are not a part of Greenway Plaza. The residential towers west of Timmons have the 77046 zip code and I was told at one time that Phoenix tower was not a part of GP but was apart from it.

According to a June 2007 entry in this same thread there was a Samperi's on Telephone road at some time. My mother was an educator in the Aldine district at one time and she spoke of a Therese Samperi who was a high school principal and whose family had a delicatessen but that is all I remember. Frank A. Mandola owns and operates Mandola's on Leeland. His son, Joseph is playing an increasing role in the operation of the restaurant. I love their spaghetti with Italian sausage which they make right on the premises.

Bill McDavid Oldsmobile and Autosports Ltd. (Fiat, Alfa Romeo, TVR, and possibly others) on the Gulf Freeway. The showroom on South Richey was Timmers Chevrolet. Before Timmers it was Boyd Mullen Chevrolet. Here is the dealer name plate on a 1967 Chevelle seen recently at a car show.

These are the real HoF athletes - those who share their expertise and experience with the next generation and use their celebrity to promote good things in the community.

Indeed it was Jim Kelly. He played 11 seasons at Buffalo. His 58th birthday is this coming Wednesday, Feb. 14. You are right, bobruss, this topic could have a thread of its own under Sports and Stadia. The Texas Gulf Coast region and its sports teams have had many stand-out athletes who grew up here and/or made their mark here. I am fortunate to have witnessed so many. No, I didn't attend Rice in the 1920's when Heisman was coach. In fact, I'm younger than Jim Kelly by a few months.

Let's not for get Gordie, Mark, and Marty Howe of the original Houston Aeros (WHL). They aren't related to Art Howe, are they? Oh yeah, Joe Morgan and J. R. Richard too. Charles Beverly with the Buffaloes (yes that is how it was spelled) way back when. I'm sure there are more. Bum Phillips? Don't forget John Heisman coached Rice football from 1924-1927.

Hot damn! So maybe my memory is not so bad after all. Than you J. R. (coincidence or not) and Firebird65.

Firebird, I do remember Palms Nursery and its associated building with the very thin pinkish brick but I can't shake the thought there was some other nursery (some sort of retail plant store) on that same side of the freeway but closer to that wedge shaped piece of land where Veterans Memorial (then Stuebner-Airline) intersected with the access road. Honestly, having grown up in the area in the 60s and 70s then being away from Houston until the late 80s and relocating in the southeast part of Harris Co. once I did return, it is easy for me to get confused about what was where and when. So much has changed. I definitely remember the Gulf Wind Motel and also marvel that it is still there.

I feel certain there was also a Wolfe Nursery in the 8300 block of the North Freeway about where JK Restaurant Supply is today. This would have been sometime in the 1970s. Does anyone else remember a Wolfe Nursery at this location?

I do a very large part of my holiday shopping there.

Look for a copy of Houston's Forgotten Heritage: Landscape, Houses, Interiors, 1824-1914 by Dorothy Knox Howe Houghton, Barrie M. Scardino Bradley, Katherine S. Howe, and Sadie Gwin Blackburn for possible examples of Second Empire houses in Houston. I'm sure the book is available on Amazon and in some of the public libraries in the area.

I've been buying my tires from Montalbano tire since I started buying tires in the 1970s. My father has done the same since the early 1950's. It is a very bitter-sweet thing to learn that the tire store is closing. It is unfortunate that the city (and I am feeling sorry for myself here) will be losing a merchant that clearly put service and customer satisfaction above all but good that Tony and his family will be able to enjoy more time together - a well earned and well deserved retirement. By the way, I do like the renderings of the proposed redevelopment.

I agree. Think about it; many, many parts of our fair city are just pretty. The heat and humidity may be a burden a few months of the year but the foliage is lush and there are features like the bayous that can be very attractive when we but the effort into maintaining them properly. This park is an excellent case in point.

My wife and I bought a two story townhouse when we were first married (in our early 20's) and the stairs were a drudge even then. It seemed whenever we wanted something like a scissors, Scotch tape, a certain book, or whatever, it was always on the other floor. Now that we're older stairs are starting to look like more than just an inconvenience. If I were building three- and four-story townhouse type residential projects I would include at least provisions for elevators in each and every one. By the way, I like the look of this project a lot. It is sleek with out being too outré.

Or a full-size replica of the Buckingham fountain in Chicago in front of this building. For those that don't remember this was the one shown on the opening credits in the TV show "Married With Children."

Jones Plaza is the reflecting pool in front of City Hall, right? I really like the allée of trees around it but agree it could use a bit of the Discovery Green / Market Square treatment to make it more attractive.

Iron Tiger and BigFootSocks are correct. "Tilt-wall" construction means the walls are poured on top of a slab, allowed to cure, then tilted up into place with a crane. This has been a popular means of construction for large area buildings like warehouses and manufacturing facilities for quite a while. What Luminare is describing is commonly knows as architectural pre-cast concrete. It is cast off-site and transported. More and more pre-cast concrete construction is being used as part of a curtain wall system for commercial, residential, and even healthcare facilities. The process he describes of raising the panels with temporary bracing is part of the tilt-wall process though. Once the walls are erected they are supported laterally by the roof structure which itself bears on the concrete panels and, usually because of the size of the building, internal columns. Pre-cast panels are lifted from the trucks they are brought to the site on and secured in place on an existing frame work of either steel or cast-in-place concrete. There is no reason to disdain either tilt-wall or pre-cast concrete construction methods. The plasticity of concrete allows for some truly attractive detailing of the panels. Both are durable and, as Luminare points out, very cost effective for buildings with large footprints especially. It seems some of us are in disagreement over what tilt-wall construction is, or perhaps just 'misspoke' when describing the process. Please know that I am a licensed architect with 25 years of experience in all types of construction in including tilt-wall and commercial high rise buildings of both steel and concrete framing. My particular focus is very technical including detailing of the building envelope and writing specifications. I've worked closely with structural engineers throughout my career and have a strong understanding and appreciation for both of these types of concrete construction. BTW, I think the scope of this project is awesome. I usually avoid 290 but I'll make an exception to see this project being built.

A construction site is no place for Ferragamos or Pappagallos. Better to slip on the Red Wings even if they aren't stylish. Men, leave your Italian loafers at home too and wear some nice clunky oxfords at least.

I think what Utterly meant was the original Albert Thomas Convention Center was remodeled into Bayou Place 20 years ago. IMO it was an appropriate use of the existing space at that time. It's good that we got that much use out of this 50 year old structure just as we did with the original Sam Houston Coliseum. In the case of these two I only lament their 'passing' for nostalgic reasons. Now if I could just cause myself to feel the same way about the Astrodome when it ultimately comes down. For me the 'dome has a lot more nostalgia than the other two even though my high school graduation was held in the Coliseum.

Bats eat mosquitoes so they are aces with me.

Good to know present day troglodytes might have some use.

As you may have seen on the local news this weekend the Houston Furniture Bank http://www.houstonfurniturebank.org had a devastating fire early Saturday morning that destroyed everything inside the warehouse including a truck used to pick up donations. I am familiar with this organization and have a very positive opinion of this organization and its mission. It gathers donations of gently used furniture and, through vouchers given to various charitable organizations, gets furniture to people who are truly in need. In particular, many are those who lost all they had to fires, floods, etc. and do not have the means to replace things like beds, tables, and chairs quickly. If you should happen to need to dispose of furniture that is in good, serviceable condition please consider making a donation to the Houston Furniture Bank. As tragic as the fire and resulting loss is, I understand the Houston Furniture Bank already had plans to move into a new space. At least they should not have to wait so long for the old structure to be replaced.

There was a fictitious skyscraper designed by fictitious architect "Ted Mosby" (portrayed by actor Josh Radnor) in a episode of the TV show How I Met Your Mother that was definitely masculine, or at least sexually unconvinced.