Tag Archives: preservation

We have another plan for repurposing the Astrodome

Posted on November 14, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Not sure what the version number is for this, but whatever it is, increment it by one. The Astrodome became the world’s first domed stadium upon opening its doors in 1965. Financed and developed primarily by then-mayor Roy Hofheinz, the … Continue reading →

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Saint Arnold gives a boost to the Beer Can House

Posted on October 12, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Nice. The Houston Beer Can House, one of the city’s most famous and beloved artistic landmarks, will now have free admissions and expanded hours thanks to a partnership with Saint Arnold Brewing Company. Located in the Rice Military neighborhood, John … Continue reading →

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Art Car Museum to get a new home

Posted on October 7, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

A very pleasant surprise. Six months ago, Houston’s Art Car Museum rolled out the news that it would shutter at the end of April. But now, plans are revving up to not only keep it open, but give it a … Continue reading →

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River Oaks Theater set to reopen

Posted on September 15, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Excellent. It ended with “Nomadland” and it’s starting again with “Joker: Folie à Deux.” After more than three years in the dark, the River Oaks Theatre is again turning on the lights. Culinary Khancepts, the Houston-based company that operates the … Continue reading →

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The Swift Warehouse renovation

Posted on May 13, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I’m always a sucker for stories about historic warehouse renovations, so of course I’m going to note this. A Houston development team known for turning run-down, defunct buildings into hip, bustling projects is planning to transform a historic warehouse complex … Continue reading →

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Art Car Museum announces its closure

Posted on March 7, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Bummer. Leaders of the Art Car Museum announced their intention to close after nearly 30 years in its Houston Heights location, according to a statement on its website. The announcement comes not long after both the museum’s founders, Ann O’Connor … Continue reading →

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River Oaks Theater renovations set to begin

Posted on May 22, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

A bit of good news. The next step in River Oaks Theatre’s comeback starts this week. Construction on renovations to the historic movie theater will begin soon with an eye towards reopening by the end of the year. Movie-loving Houstonians … Continue reading →

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Checking in on the Astrodome

Posted on April 3, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

With the Final Four in town, we have visitors at Reliant Stadium looking over at its unused predecessor and wondering what’s going on with it. The short answer is, not much. The state of the dome and prospects for its … Continue reading →

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The Evergreen Negro Cemetery

Posted on February 19, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Wow. City and METRO officials have discovered 33 burial sites, including three that appear fully intact, near a historic Black cemetery on Lockwood Drive, which the city apparently missed when it tore through the site to expand the street in … Continue reading →

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River Oaks Theater lives again

Posted on February 4, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Wow. The curtain is going up on a new era for the vacated River Oaks Theatre. Kimco Realty, the Jericho, New York-based company that owns the River Oaks Shopping Center where the theater sits, announced Wednesday that the cinema will … Continue reading →

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Supreme Court upholds Houston historic preservation ordinance

Posted on June 8, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Blast from the past. The Texas Supreme Court has upheld Houston’s ordinance regulating the preservation of historic districts, after residents argued it was an illegal zoning measure. Two homeowners in the Heights challenged the law, arguing that it constituted zoning … Continue reading →

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It’s time for another Astrodome redevelopment effort

Posted on May 23, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Astrodome redevelopment for a new generation. Nineteen years after the Astrodome last hosted an event, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving Houston’s most famous building hopes to finally develop a renovation plan that will actually come to fruition. The nonprofit Astrodome … Continue reading →

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Giving a hand to music venues

Posted on May 18, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

This is a good idea. Qualifying Texas music venues could get up to $100,000 each in tax rebates on alcohol sales under legislation that has passed the House and Senate and now is on its way to Gov. Greg Abbott … Continue reading →

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River Oaks Theater closes down

Posted on March 28, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Officially gone. The first film ever shown at the River Oaks Theatre was “Bachelor Mother” in 1939 starring Ginger Rogers and David Niven. The last film, it seems, will be the Oscar-nominated “Nomadland” starring Frances McDormand. When credits rolled after … Continue reading →

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RIP, River Oaks Theater

Posted on March 16, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

It was nice while it lasted, but we don’t get to enjoy things like that for very long in Houston. After an 82-year run, Houston’s historic River Oaks Theatre is preparing to close. The lease between Los Angeles-based Landmark Theatres, … Continue reading →

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Astrodome renovation officially on hold

Posted on January 2, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Not a surprise, given everything that is going on right now. The COVID-19 pandemic upended most aspects of normal life, but this year has clutched dearly to one bit of normalcy for Houston residents: inaction on the Astrodome. For 12 … Continue reading →

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Preserving Texas’ film history

Posted on March 20, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Cool story. Click play on the grainy, black-and-white image titled simply “Houston Time Service” on the website of the Texas Archive of the Moving Image and you’re treated to a 110-second Houston love story. The film, from the 1940s, is … Continue reading →

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Independence Heights and I-45

Posted on June 16, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Sometimes, with everything else that’s going on in the world, I forget that the I-45 expansion is still out there, looming like a battleship in the harbor. But there it is, and we can’t not worry about it. For Tanya … Continue reading →

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The timeline for the Astrodome

Posted on October 7, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Work will get started after the Rodeo. According to Ryan Walsh, executive director of the Harris County Sports & Convention Corporation and NRG Park, the final phase of asbestos abatement is scheduled to get underway at the Dome next week … Continue reading →

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That’s the Texas State Historical Astrodome to you, pal

Posted on May 31, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

It’s got a marker and everything. More than 56 years after ground was broken on what would become the world’s first domed stadium, the Astrodome is now a bonafide recorded Texas historic landmark. Installed on the stadium’s southwest end, a … Continue reading →

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Another designation for the Astrodome

Posted on March 19, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

It’s quite the historic place. The famed Astrodome will be designated as a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark — the highest honor the state can bestow on a historic structure. The marker will finally and officially tell the story of the … Continue reading →

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County approves Astrodome plan

Posted on February 14, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Like it or not, here it comes. Harris County Commissioners Court voted unanimously Tuesday to move forward with the final design and construction of a $105 million project to transform the cherished piece of Houston’s sporting history into what officials … Continue reading →

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Freedmen’s Town may get UNESCO designation

Posted on November 6, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

That’s cool. For all the years the historic bricks of Freedmen’s Town in Fourth Ward were questioned, devalued and disturbed, a new international spotlight is bringing a renewed appreciation for the strenuous efforts to validate, treasure and preserve them. UNESCO … Continue reading →

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“We must find a way to co-exist with the bayou ecosystem”

Posted on September 2, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Offcite points to a way forward. We must find a way to co-exist with the bayou ecosystem, not get in its way. As Albert Pope, a professor at Rice Architecture, has pointed out in a series of proposals, most of Houston’s … Continue reading →

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We don’t need another vote on the Astrodome

Posted on February 12, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Not for this we don’t, anyway. Less than five months ago, the future of the Astrodome seemed to be more secure than it has been in the decades since it hosted its last Astros game, with Harris County commissioners moving … Continue reading →

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Astrodome gains antiquities status

Posted on January 30, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Nice. The aging behemoth billed as the Eighth Wonder of the World has joined the revered ranks of the Alamo and State Capitol as an honored historical site. Just days before a crowd of more than 70,000 files past for … Continue reading →

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The history of the Chicken Ranch

Posted on January 9, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Chron columnist and Texas historian Joe Holley writes about an attempt to put a marker by the site of the infamous Chicken Ranch. It’s been 43 years since KTRK-TV’s crusading consumer affairs reporter (“Slime in the ice machine!!”) rolled into … Continue reading →

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Commissioners Court approves Astrodome parking plan

Posted on September 29, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Here we go. Harris County commissioners approved the first piece of a $105 million plan to transform the stadium into part parking garage and part event space for things like concerts and trade shows. After years of indecision, advocates for … Continue reading →

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The Astrodome parking proposal is about to get real

Posted on September 26, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Here it comes. Harris County commissioners are poised to make their largest investment yet in the Astrodome’s future next week. They are slated to vote on the first piece of a $105 million plan to raise the ground level two … Continue reading →

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Astrodome parking plan coming

Posted on June 27, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Better get ready. Harris County officials on Friday unveiled a $105 million plan to raise the floor of the Astrodome and build two new levels of parking beneath it, the strongest signal yet that the county plans to maintain and … Continue reading →

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Hey, look, it’s another Astrodome proposal

Posted on June 18, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Meet A-Dome Park. A Houston architect is touting a new idea for the Astrodome’s overhaul, urging the county to avoid an indoor park concept and instead strip the structure down to its bones. The concept, dubbed “A-Dome Park,” is being … Continue reading →

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Help a brick out

Posted on May 3, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

From Swamplot: AN INDIEGOGO PAGE has just been launched to crowdfund the removal and reuse of an unexpectedly large group of well-preserved 1930s bricks from thenow-under-deconstruction Yale St. bridge over White Oak Bayou. The group calling itself Friends of Houston’s Yale Bridge Bricks says the funds will be used … Continue reading →

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Three I-45 updates

Posted on September 8, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

From The Highwayman: Texas Transportation Commission members on Thursday approved a $3.6 million contract with Main Lane Industries, based in Houston, to replace the entrance ramp from Allen Parkway to southbound I-45. The ramp, which whips drivers through a steep … Continue reading →

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Revisiting the historic preservation ordinance

Posted on July 26, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

This sort of thing is always fun. Houstonians who live in historic districts, including the Old Sixth Ward, the Heights and the High First Ward, weighed in this week on proposed updates to the city’s rules that create areas preserved … Continue reading →

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