I-beam

That makes great sense, and you make a very good point in regards to the buildings that would have been there when downtown was laid out. Thanks!

Been a while since this topic was touched, but I had heard that the orientation was to neatly always have one side of the street in the shade. It makes sense to me because the bayou changes it’s direction and the bridges seem to plug into the grid nicely. Any thoughts?

I know the feeling. Best to look for a good home now. I don't know of any museum per se, but the Fort Bend Chamber might have ideas or even take it for display in their offices. 

That was Joe's Golf House at 2121 West Loop South. The sign is a golf ball on a tee. It did close long before it was demolished and may have shut its doors around 2006-2007.

Can someone tell me about Sakowitz? What was it like? What happened to it?

Well for one thing, it had the coolest escalators I had ever seen. I got to know it in the late 60s, and whereas the railing of most escalators were flat, the ones at Sakowitz bulged out from the top of the handrail, and then curved back to the top of the steps. They were also illuminated from inside. As a kid I used to love riding up and down, leaning against the side, being bumped every time I came to a juncture between the panels.

Funny - the title is "Folly's Department Store".

Interesting footage though of shopping in luxury.

Check out this one:

Changing face of American cities

Lots of great shots of new buildings in the early 1960s.

I believe that what was noteworthy here, was that Foley's Downtown was the first departments store of its kind.

Designed by Raymond Lowe, it had a tunnel or backstage area that surrounded each floor. The idea was that much like Disneyland which is supplied through underground corridors, merchandise, meaning products being stocked and some goods sold, would not go through the normal customer entrances and exits. They would come in through the loading docs, up to the appropriate floor, and then around the floor in the tunnels poping out only when they reached the destination department. The newsreel seems to be featuring the state of the art shopping experience at Foley's including showing purchases being made, the packages then being dropped down a chute, eventually making it to the shipping department for home delivery OR being sent to the parking garage across the street where they would be placed in your car when you departed. It really was most civilized.