Triton Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 http://ww3.hdnux.com/photos/35/20/61/7670882/3/920x920.jpg Quote With the "goodbyes" said and chain-link security fence erected, all that awaits Incarnate Word Academy's 110-year-old downtown school building is the wrecking ball. Demolition of the three-story brick red building ‑ the last Houston edifice totally designed by famed 19th century Texas architect Nicholas Clayton ‑ will make way for a new, $8.5 million, six-story structure to open for the 2016-2017 school year. Plans for the building's demolition spurred protests from history-minded architects and former students, but leaders of the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament, the building's owner, said rehabilitation would have cost at least $300,000 and would not have resulted in a structure adequate to the school's needs. Sandwiched between modern school buildings on the 600 Crawford Street campus, the doomed building will be the third Clayton-designed structure razed by the nuns since the 1940s. Another Clayton building nearby, a school associated with the Annunciation Catholic Church, was razed in 1997. Sister Lauren Beck, president of the teaching order and of the school, founded in 1873, said the decision to demolish was made "in the past eight months." "We do appreciate that this is an older building, but we have to look at the needs of the school," Beck said. "There is no more land down here and we are landlocked. While we loved having some of the old and some of the new, we decided that the building could not drive the mission of the school. The needs of the school come first." http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Incarnate-Word-Academy-plans-to-raze-historic-6139685.php#photo-7670882 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoustonIsHome Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 Beautiful building. Wish it could be saved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houstontexasjack Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 Sad. Meanwhile, the family law center lives on...... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naviguessor Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 Pity. And the timing is weird for me. I was downtown on Sunday and I stopped to admire this building, surprised that I'd never really noticed it before. I even wondered if it was one of Nicolas Clayton's structures. You can really tell that it is. So, I'm happy that I spotted it and Identified it. But, really sad to hear that it is going. Always surprised at some decisions the Catholic Church, and other catholic organizations, make regarding their Architectural Assets (They were very close to demolishing Sacrad Heart on Broadway in Galveston, just a few years back.) And, their "efforts" to preserve and protect Bishops Palace were barely adequate, if that. They made the Galveston Historical Foundation pay a pretty price for the place, to boot. The Foundation is having to raise a huge sum of cash it just to bring it up to respectable and stable condition. What the Diocese could've done is to have given it to the Foundation, to ensure that the Palace would be taken care of properly, and open to the public...Rather than sell to the highest bidder. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_cuevas713 Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 This is ridiculous! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howard Huge Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 Uh oh, grab yer pitchforks! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate99 Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 Always surprised at some decisions the Catholic Church, and other catholic organizations, make regarding their Architectural Assets... When it comes to such things they behave consistent with any large centrally controlled bureaucracy, which is to say, inconsistently and heavily influencenced by politics. Incarnate Word's needs are what they are, and if they don't move to improve the school when they need to accommodate an old building, the school will suffer the same fate as Mt. Carmel or other shuttered Catholic schools, so I can't blame them for making that choice. The Diocese of Galveston-Houston is not in the business of maintaining old expensive buildings that are inadequate for its needs, notwithstanding the additional costs it incurs to maintain new expensive buildings that are arguably more than they need. Seems like they could salvage some of the doorway and other unique elements, if it was in the budget to do so. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
native_Houstonian Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 I'm an alumna of Incarnate Word and attended the "Farewell" party for the building on Saturday. When I was in school there in the late 80s, the building was home to approximately 5 sisters. The last 2 sisters vacated the building sometime last year. Prior to my time at the academy, the building was used for classrooms. However the inside had been reconfigured so many times in the past century, that there was nothing left from the original architecture. Last fall, we were supposed to have a special dinner in the building for alumnae, but it was cancelled due to the lack of structural integrity of the building. They said the floor was too uneven, and they were afraid someone would fall. According to Sr. Lauren Beck, the mosaic tiles on the building will be saved and incorporated into a sign on the existing building. I, for one, am all for the construction of a new building there. We have to remember that the school is not there to serve the past, but to educate and serve current and future students. That is their mission. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rechlin Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 This is such a travesty. Every day I look out my window, see the beautiful old building, and then see it flanked by those hideous gray ~1980s monstrosities. If anything they should tear down the gray buildings, not the old building. At the very least they should leave the façade and build the new building behind it. That's fairly common in Europe, to keep the historical feel while still being modern. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avossos Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 I am sick with this news. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
intencity77 Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 Pretty disgusted and appalled at this but then again Houston embraces and encourages destroying its past with such a passion. I imagine the new building will look similar to the ugly ones surrounding it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobruss Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 I think they should take this opportunity to do something historic and help save a great example of Nicholas Clayton's architecture here in Houston.. Here is a twist of fate that is a little ironic. The sisters of Incarnate Word want to stay down town and build there new building where the Nicholas Clayton wing now stands. John Nau and his group had planned on building on the adjacent block a history museum. That failed and they are now in the process of giving the donations back. Why not trade the vacant lot next to the school for the Nicholas Clayton building and repurpose it into a history Museum. That way the nuns can build there new campus right next door. John Nau can save a historic landmark and possibly still create a history museum. and the city can make a statement on historic preservation and start a new era of saving our past for the future. Isn't that kind of what Nau was planing anyway. I posted this on the Nau page also. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quietstorm Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 This is such a travesty. Every day I look out my window, see the beautiful old building, and then see it flanked by those hideous gray ~1980s monstrosities. If anything they should tear down the gray buildings, not the old building. At the very least they should leave the façade and build the new building behind it. That's fairly common in Europe, to keep the historical feel while still being modern. Interesting idea to keep the facade and build new behind that. Reagan High School in the Heights did something similar, I believe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phillip_white Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 This is a great idea. Call Sheila Jackson Lee and tell her she will get lots of time on TV and she will champion this idea like it was her own. I think they should take this opportunity to do something historic and help save a great example of Nicholas Clayton'sarchitecture here in Houston..Here is a twist of fate that is a little ironic.The sisters of Incarnate Word want to stay down town and build there new building where the Nicholas Clayton wing now stands.John Nau and his group had planned on building on the adjacent block a history museum.That failed and they are now in the process of giving the donations back.Why not trade the vacant lot next to the school for the Nicholas Clayton building and repurpose it into a history Museum. That way the nuns can build there new campus right next door.John Nau can save a historic landmark and possibly still create a history museum.and the city can make a statement on historic preservation and start a new era of saving our past for the future.Isn't that kind of what Nau was planing anyway.I posted this on the Nau page also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luminare Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 This is a great idea. Call Sheila Jackson Lee and tell her she will get lots of time on TV and she will champion this idea like it was her own. Yeah we should be doing some sort of phone call Tsunami! There has to be a better way. I completely agree with what has been said above. If there is anything that should be destroyed and rebuilt its the stuff around it! This decision to demolish this and wedge something new in there without looking at the entire campus is simply baffling. People should be calling those donors who were pouring their money into something so cheesy and tell them...hey if you want to really save some history or really show houstons past then find a way to keep this building and figure out the needs of the school and improve the area overall. This isn't the first time these shortsighted nuns demolished some otherwise worthwhile architecture. I'm surprised they haven't demolished their own church -.- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigereye Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 (edited) This is such a travesty. Every day I look out my window, see the beautiful old building, and then see it flanked by those hideous gray ~1980s monstrosities. If anything they should tear down the gray buildings, not the old building.At the very least they should leave the façade and build the new building behind it. That's fairly common in Europe, to keep the historical feel while still being modern.It's worse than we thought ...here's a render of the replacement. Blends right in with those "hideous gray ~1980s monstrosities" around it. https://twitter.com/thachadwick/status/579706695103823872 Edited March 22, 2015 by tigereye Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hindesky Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 It's worse than we thought ...here's a render of the replacement. Blends right in with those "hideous gray ~1980s monstrosities" around it. https://twitter.com/thachadwick/status/579706695103823872 That kind reminds me of a Public Storage place, I wonder if they used the same architect. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFootsSocks Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 Ah man that's sexy af damn they outdid themselves with this one 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triton Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 It's worse than we thought ...here's a render of the replacement. Blends right in with those "hideous gray ~1980s monstrosities" around it. https://twitter.com/thachadwick/status/579706695103823872 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobert Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 (edited) As a high school student in a restored historic building it was never really good enough, if this will help educate more students I'm all for it. Edited March 22, 2015 by bobert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monarch Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 although, i am really saddened by the fact that the IWA officials felt that they just could not rehabilitate such a glorious and historic current edifice, i do indeed feel that this new proposed render / concept is tops! i love the totally modern / cool / flowing design. IWA students shall really enjoy this modernistic approach to their downtown campus. not to mention, this new addition, shall bring a bit of teenage fun to this particular area of downtown.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PD_1 Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 I saw them doing some soil testing in the adjacent parking lot a couple of days last week. Maybe they will be starting on the parking garage soon also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparrow Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 It's rather GRB meets Alley Theatre if you ask me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naviguessor Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 Total Fail. On every Level. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobruss Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 I'm really amazed at how poorly this played out. Very disappointed. 1,000 hell mary's 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cloud713 Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 At the very least they should leave the façade and build the new building behind it. That's fairly common in Europe, to keep the historical feel while still being modern. my favorite example of this is Norman Fosters Hearst Tower in NYC. its a damn shame they couldn't of done this here but if you look at the picture in the original post, there are many crooked/misconfigured portions of the facade. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toxtethogrady Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 The only thing that would be more of an educational buzzkill would be another state-mandated standardized test... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PD_1 Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Taking down the roof. They put up scaffolding and then a screen around the building. They were hauling away interior debris last week and then started on the roof. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_cuevas713 Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 (edited) That pic of NYC is incredible. Edited March 30, 2015 by j_cuevas713 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toxtethogrady Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 You need to visit any of the NYC threads on SSP to find more incredible. There are at least half a dozen supertalls going up - the tallest being the Nordstrom Tower, which is a foot shorter than 1WTC. The skyline looks nothing like what we remember back in 2001. (Shamelessly swiped from SSP. By Bibek Singh's Photography) 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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