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The article stated in the chron today talks about how insane the parking situation and traffic flow in the area.

When I have to drive in the area (I always curse when I do), I usually go down San Jacinto in the middle lane (the right lane is ALWAYS backed up with people trying to get to that surface lot) and make a right hand turn onto Capital street (usually accompanied by a massive blaring of angry horns) from the middle lane. What amazes me is that I do this in front of cops and I have NEVER have gotten a ticket. The thing that gets me, why don't these people park further away and walk/take the train to the courthouse? It takes less time to walk from a further lot or the station then to stay sitting in traffic for a significant amount of time.

What are they going to do when the plaza will eventually get built?

I also agree that an officer or two should be put on there to help direct traffic as mentioned in the article.

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I call this the Congress St. Cluster.

My bus gets stuck in it on Mondays. It can take 20 minutes to go from MMP (Jackson St) to Milam.

I've emailed Metro. They need to shift this route, and Harris Co. needs officers conducting traffic into their jury duty parking garages.

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Welcome to my world. Between jurors, witnesses and defendants, thousands of downtown newcomers descend upon these couple of blocks daily. Because they are new, and because they are not sure where they are going or where to park, they drive slowly, eyes looking to the sides, and make sharp turns when they see a space. They are frequently in the wrong lane when this occurs. The sheer number of people doing this simultaneously makes it hell to get though.

Some of us have figured out how to get around it, but the judges who must park in it are stuck. I park near MMP, and walk back to the courthouse. Skipping the traffic jam more than makes up for the 3 block walk.

Since there is a never-ending parade of confused drivers daily, it will be hard to fix the problem. I agree that some traffic cops would help, but the lines waiting to get into parking garages and lots will remain, blocking traffic lanes. Good luck to whoever attempts to tackle the problem.

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  • 2 months later...

i know we've discussed this issue before, but i couldn't find a thread specifically about it. also, moderators, do we need a "historic preservation" thread under issues? or, should we put historic preservation issues under the neighborhood they are occurring?

May 20, 2007, 12:36AM

Old photographs hold the key to restoration

Architects are trying to reconstruct the look of the 1910 Harris County courthouse

By BILL MURPHY

Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle

Rebuilding a legacy

Like a detective from a cold case squad, Dan Reissig examines a photo of the Houston Law School Class of 1934.

The faces of the graduating students are of no interest to him. He ignores those, peering instead at the ornamental plaster work in the room where the photo was taken

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That's an interesting article. Are there any photos of the 1910 courthouse?

Dallas is nearing completion on the $23 million restoration of its own courthouse. The inside was stripped down and the interior courtrooms, iron staircase, and brass hardware were all restored. They are currently finishing construction of the 96 foot clock tower (the original was dismantled in 1919). The building now houses the Old Red Museum of Dallas County History & Culture, just across from the Sixth Floor Museum. There's an article and interactive graphic located here:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dw...ed.3aba9c9.html

INTERACTIVE GRAPHIC

courthouse01webln6.jpg

Edited by njjeppson
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Guest danax
That's an interesting article. Are there any photos of the 1910 courthouse?

Dallas is nearing completion on the $23 million restoration of its own courthouse. The inside was stripped down and the interior courtrooms, iron staircase, and brass hardware were all restored. They are currently finishing construction of the 96 foot clock tower (the original was dismantled in 1919). The building now houses the Old Red Museum of Dallas County History & Culture, just across from the Sixth Floor Museum. There's an article and interactive graphic located here:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dw...ed.3aba9c9.html

INTERACTIVE GRAPHIC

courthouse01webln6.jpg

That's a real dandy of a building in Dallas. The Houston Courthouse is also a beauty and hearing of its restoration warms my heart. :)

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  • 7 months later...
  • 3 weeks later...
That's an interesting article. Are there any photos of the 1910 courthouse?

2190530299_c6970b2960_b.jpg

Here's the 1910 Courthouse as it stands today. The restoration project is very exciting, and is essentially under-way, as the interior of the courthouse has been stripped of its 1950 renovation, down to the bare-bones 1910 condition, using original blueprints, photos, and accounts of the courthouse as it existed between 1910 and 1950. The next phase of the project should be kicked off over the next month or two, which will begin the actual "restoration" of the building, brining it back to its majestic 1910 days. It'll be fascinating to see what the building looks like, both interior and exterior, when this restoration is completed ~ it'll be an enormous difference.

-ben

Edited by Bengiann
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I could be wrong, but I think at one point in time there was a statue of some kind ontop of it.

Yeah.. I vaguely recall that there was a statue which used to be on there.. Back before they began restoration on the building, they hauled it off via helicopter.

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The top was a piece that looked like a chess piece, not a statue. My guess is that the dome was never capped due to cost or concerns about the strength. Years ago the Pillot Cafe was across the street, and in the courtyard they had either the original cap piece or a replica. I don't know what happened to it however.

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The top was a piece that looked like a chess piece, not a statue. My guess is that the dome was never capped due to cost or concerns about the strength. Years ago the Pillot Cafe was across the street, and in the courtyard they had either the original cap piece or a replica. I don't know what happened to it however.

Yeah, it looked similar to this....

Pawn.gif

There was a story about it a few years back. They were looking for it. Not sure if they ever found it or not.

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Hey guys, I came across this magazine with some photos of the 1910 Courthouse with the "chess pawn" on top. I also think I might know where it exists today! Before I post the latter, I'm going to try to confirm it and take photos this Friday, so we'll see. 'Til then, ...

1910restore_cover.jpg

1910restore_1.jpg

1910restore_2.jpg

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I thinks its apalling that a city as large and important as Houston could let such an important detail/motif whatever go half done for so long. Sad. Guess it takes more $$$ from donations? Wonder why the effort was dropped? That article must list names and orgs that were trying to correct. Maybe we can put a giant basketball or baseball there for now. :)

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A finial was reproduced in the early 90's and, as mentioned, was located in the courtyard of the Pillot Cafe. I'll try to finds some photos of it and post. At some point, it was moved from the Pillot to a Harris county storage lot off of, I believe, Navigation.

Edited by neuman
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Nice photos. I love the old Texas courthouses and it's nice that Houston's is next to be restored. The Dallas courthouse restoration was just recently completed and it makes a big difference on that part of downtown. They restored the inside (and some of the old courtrooms) and it is now a museum of county history. The cast iron stair was reconstructed inside and the clock tower was rebuilt on top. The 6-year restoration was definitely worth the wait. Houston should be excited.

2108493914_1687451ec2.jpg?v=0

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ninjatune/2108493914/

1340562555_bff074d79c.jpg?v=0

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ninjatune/1340562555/

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I thought I read some where that the pole (on top) was bent after the 1900 storm.

I quite sure they stated that the crucifix atop the steeple at Annunciation Church was bent after the same storm.

In Vertigo's defense, I've read articles that the tower of the earlier courthouse (1883, I believe) was damaged in the 1900 hurricane. As a side note, the bell tower of the 1873 City Hall was also damaged in the storm and was being rebuilt when the City Hall burned in 1901.

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In Vertigo's defense, I've read articles that the tower of the earlier courthouse (1883, I believe) was damaged in the 1900 hurricane. As a side note, the bell tower of the 1873 City Hall was also damaged in the storm and was being rebuilt when the City Hall burned in 1901.

"Harris County has had 5 courthouses:

1838, 1851, 1883, 1910 and the 1953 courthouse."

http://www.texasescapes.com/Houston/Harris...oustonTexas.htm

And neuman, thanks for posting those photos of the chess piece thingy. I was told that Harris County was testing the structural integrity of the dome while they were having a contractor build a replacement cap for the dome, as the old cap was long lost and hadn't appeared in any photos after 1939. Well, by the time the new cap was finished, the structural integrity of the dome was determined to necessitate repairs before it could withstand this much weight safely. Therefore, the cap in those pictures has been sitting, turning green & deteriorating, in a Harris County storage area off of Navigation.

Edited by Bengiann
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