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YWCA Masterson At 3615 Willia St.

Subdude

By Subdude
in The Heights

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Subdude

Subdude

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It's always good to see the occasional Chronicle architecture article.

Nov. 29, 2005, 8:35PM

ARCHITECTURE

Early icons suffer the great collapse

By SCOT BROOKS

Special To The Chronicle

In August, the YWCA off Waugh closed its doors. Its building, an inspiring inside-the-Loop landmark, is for sale and is almost certainly doomed. YWCA Masterson At 3615 Willia St.

It's another tragedy in a town beset by architectural indifference. Designed by Taft Architects and built in 1982, the Masterson YWCA was an early icon in the Post-modern movement. The building won a national Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects — a big deal for a small building.

The long hall of a structure exhibited a large presence in little space, and its clever indoor-to-outdoor pool, with giant glass garage doors opening onto an adjacent park, was one of the city's best places to swim. The building's front was a classically inspired billboard of repeated arches and a blue tile grid, while the more functional back seemed to come apart into large modern boxes separated by alleylike slots.

And come apart it has. Visiting on the building's last day of operation, I was dismayed to see how the past 23 years had treated it. I'd heard that high maintenance costs led the Masterson Y to close its doors, and the work the building needed was clearly visible. But the building showed more wear than empty warehouses I've surveyed, some of which had been abandoned for as long as this facility was occupied. This was a building exhibiting rapid decay.

In Houston, we're used to seeing historical buildings slated for destruction. But the Masterson Y's story is different: It's about an entire generation of buildings that may never make it to historical status.

Link to Chronicle article

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sevfiv

sevfiv

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"But in the past three decades we've built just to endure the fad — 20 years, tops."

"We now strain to make ever larger buildings for ever smaller costs, to blow up the balloon a little larger and just a bit thinner. Sometimes the balloon pops in our face."

that about sums it up :(

even though the "fad" of the cheap large building (and home) might be dying, we will definitely be stuck with the corpses...

here are two chronicle articles from september:

http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive....id=2005_3902370

http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive....id=2005_3900322

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Subdude

Subdude

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Like the article points out, it wasn't just cheap construction. The post-modern style never really was that popular with the public, so there's not a lot of outcry to save even award-winning buildings like this. Probably in another 20 years people will start to appreciate the style, but then it will be too late for most examples (on the other hand, the Allen Parkway Fed will be with us for decades). Even today there's still fairly limited interest in preserving buildings from the Mod period.

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jtmbin

jtmbin

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The good news is that the Taft Architects designed post-modern Masterson YWCA will not be demolished afterall. The YMCA has purchased the property and will restore the facility completely and reopen as a YMCA next year to serve the fast-growing Washington Ave Corridor, Heights and Montrose.

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heights_yankee

heights_yankee

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The good news is that the Taft Architects designed post-modern Masterson YWCA will not be demolished afterall. The YMCA has purchased the property and will restore the facility completely and reopen as a YMCA next year to serve the fast-growing Washington Ave Corridor, Heights and Montrose.

That is excellent news. I think if they can renovate it to compete with the one close to Garden Oaks it will do very well.

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sevfiv

sevfiv

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the HBJ article is here, but there is a problem at the site right now...

yahoo's works, though

The 50,000-square-foot Masterson YWCA facility, which opened in 1981, has been closed for almost a year. Located at 3615 Willia, near Waugh and Memorial Drive, it adjoins Spotts Park -- an ideal location for YMCA summer youth activities.

"A needs assessment commissioned by the YMCA of Greater Houston board several months ago determined that there is a shortage of services for children, families and seniors in that area," said Clark Baker, president and CEO of YMCA of Greater Houston. "Ultimately, the YMCA cannot ignore the opportunity to preserve such important services inside the city limits."

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jtmbin

jtmbin

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As would my Godparents.

Actually my friends and I are happy to hear it. We worked out at Larry North in the Houston Center for the last two years, switched to FIT last month after nearly joining the new YMCA on Stella Link because it has something that none of the other fitness clubs have - a swimming pool. Stella Link was just too far away. The Masterson YMCA will be great. I swam and played racquetball there a dozen years ago before the YWCA management let the place fall into disrepair. The view of downtown from the pool when the giant doors are open is awesome. With the excellent management of the YMCA, compared to the disaster that is the YWCA, this location will be very popular and fill a service void in the area.

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lilyheights

lilyheights

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Actually my friends and I are happy to hear it. We worked out at Larry North in the Houston Center for the last two years, switched to FIT last month after nearly joining the new YMCA on Stella Link because it has something that none of the other fitness clubs have - a swimming pool. Stella Link was just too far away. The Masterson YMCA will be great. I swam and played racquetball there a dozen years ago before the YWCA management let the place fall into disrepair. The view of downtown from the pool when the giant doors are open is awesome. With the excellent management of the YMCA, compared to the disaster that is the YWCA, this location will be very popular and fill a service void in the area.

I, too, am extremely excited about the pool prospect. I can't wait. If they want pre-registration, they need to let me know. :)

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lilyheights

lilyheights

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I wrote to the Houston YMCA and received this response...I'm excited:

In mid-September, the YMCA of Greater Houston completed the purchase of the Masterson YW facility.

It needs extensive renovation and repair, and plans are currently to open in fall 2007.

Our working title for this one is the YMCA Waugh Drive project.

And yes, the indoor pools will be there!

Thanks for your interest.

Ken

Ken Harris

VP Corporate Services

YMCA of Greater Houston

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TexasCE

TexasCE

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I work just up the street from the Post Oak YMCA (which also has a nice pool) and very much like that location. However, having a new YMCA by the house will be great as my wife and I have a city membership.

A few months ago I asked several of teh employees there about the Masterson location. They told me that there was no word on it, but that several people had inquired about that location. The email someone above recieved seemed to indicate that enough people have shown interest afterall.

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Northwood

Northwood

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I received this response from the YMCA this afternoon.

"......thank you for your call regarding the old YWCA facility on Waugh Drive. The Association has scheduled a significant number of facility projects over the next three years and at this time, the new YMCA at Waugh Drive is scheduled to open for member use in April 2010. ...."

I have put off joining a gym in hopes of joining the Y on Waugh. I don't think my fat tire can wait until 2010.

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lilyheights

lilyheights

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I received this response from the YMCA this afternoon.

"......thank you for your call regarding the old YWCA facility on Waugh Drive. The Association has scheduled a significant number of facility projects over the next three years and at this time, the new YMCA at Waugh Drive is scheduled to open for member use in April 2010. ...."

I have put off joining a gym in hopes of joining the Y on Waugh. I don't think my fat tire can wait until 2010.

Ugh! Mine can't either. Neither can my son wait that long for use of their pool. Let me guess...'burbanite projects are being built first? Riff 'em, raff 'em...

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lilyheights

lilyheights

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Ok, here is the response I received (not a canned response):

When we first purchased the YWCA our intentions were to remodel and re-open quickly. However, understanding how important this facility would be to the Heights community, we stepped back and re-evaluated. During this process we decided that in order to make this a first class, state-of-the art YMCA center, with adequate parking (we are currently in discussion with the city about parking options); we would need to put more resources into this project. We are not abandoning this project but rather making it bigger and better than first visualized. To do this project the right way

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  • The title was changed to YWCA Masterson
  • The title was changed to YWCA Masterson At 3615 Willia St.

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