​John Milroy Mansion At 1102 Heights Blvd.

[Heights2Bastrop]

RedScare, I know exactly what you are talking about, especially regarding the houses in the Heights. There were a number of wonderful mansions torn down, and one in particular, the Mills House, the largest and possibly the most beautiful in the Heights was razed and replaced by an ugly apartment complex. And when I had heard that the Cooley House had been torn down, I wanted to cry.

However, back when these structures were being torn down, no one wanted a huge house in a run-down neighborhood. They tried to save the Cooley house, but it was vacant, and transients were living in it. It not only became an eyesore, it became a hazard. So I can understand why it had to go.

That is why I am so grateful to Alan Bies who bought and restored the Milroy House, and to Bart Truxillo for his work on the house at Harvard and 18th. I firmly believe they are greatly and directly responsible for the resurrection of the Heights.

That being said, had I been the owner of one of those old Heights mansions, and I was told by the government that I could not tear down my own house and build what I wanted in its place, and if no one was willing to pay a fair price, I would have not have been a happy camper. After all, this is Texas, and we Texans don

[RedScare]

H2B:

I don't think you are being argumentative, or even ornery . Your nostalgic bent and appreciation for historic structures has been duly noted by all on this board.

I also don't think anyone here is advocating government clampdowns on land use (though, I may be wrong on that one). I, for one, am torn on how to handle these historic structures. Would an ordinance prohibiting destruction by a new buyer be so bad? In other words, if you are the owner when it is designated historic, you can do what you want, but if you sell it, the new owner can't destroy it. If someone buys it, knowing it is historic, they were forewarned. We do that with floodplain property. Could we do it with historic? Cities with zoning do it all the time by re-zoning a property.

As to moving houses to Sam Houston Park, that ruins the history of the structure. It is a historic structure in its present location. Moving it destroys it by taking it out of context.

Some entire neighborhoods are historic. 6th Ward is one. The gripe with these people is not just that they are tearing down something that will be lost forever. It is that they are replacing it with something that will ruin the entire neighborhood. At least, MOST of the people who tear down in the Heights replace it with a period compatible structure. We may not like it, but it could be worse, like this monstrosity.