[CHRON] Houston Could Lose River Oaks Theatre to Barnes & Noble?

The Alabama? Me too.

 

Your points are true but speak more to the need to re-do the theatre on the inside so it has modern ameneties, while being true to its classic design and feel.

 

wow, I spent so much of my senior HS and early college years at that theater... and I live in Missouri City/Sugar Land.... We would drive our cars out there half the time because of the night atmosphere there compared to the curfew-like atmosphere where I lived.... It also seems to make you feel like you're in the movie more than any other theater I know... digitally sounded or not....

 

Well, I don't want to see another B&B or yet another Starbucks, but tearing that theater down wouldn't bother me so much. It's not like it's this grand old theater with classic styling, red curtains, and balcony seating. Maybe I just don't know enough about the theater other than that it was built in the 30s. I'm for preservation, but somebody needs to inform me of something special about that theater other than nostalgia and sentimental value.

 

Jeff...thanks for posting the links to the web petition and chronicle story. I forwarded them to everyone I know this morning, and I know my parents signed the petition.

 

yeah, that's the point i was trying to get at. for instance, I brought up the shamrock. there is a painting along the wall of the new food court in memorial city mall with different landmarks from different cities in texas. in the houston painting they have the shamrock hotel. that was famous, for more than just being old. I have no problem tearing down old structures, that's really not a problem. houston's problem isn't valuing what's valuable.

 

Well like I've always said, if a building in Houston needs a paint job; it is either torn down or a historical marker gets put on it.

The old strip center at Buffalo and Bissonnet is also on the way out for another HEB. The only thing holding HEB back is Molina's is fighting the attempts to break their lease. I'm just hoping the center lives long enough for my dad to reach retirement age since he works in the independent drugstore in the center.

Houston wouldn't be the same without the River Oaks Center on West Gray. Fight it Houston, fight it!

 

Until Houston gets zoning, and takes preservation of what little of Old Houston is left, we will continue to see stories like this... until there is nothing left worthy of preservation. You'll have Houston, generic capitol of the world. The king of the strip center, the parking lot, the crass apartment complex, the soulless steel and glass office building. Houston, a city of nothing. Seinfeld, without the humor.

I'm a native Houstonian, who's lived in Austin since 1980, and I'm ashamed of my city, because I still consider Houston my city, my hometown, warts and all.

 

The number of sigs on the petition is up to 7,300+.

 

More news from the Chronicle... keep it up, folks!


July 28, 2006, 12:43AM


Battle to save River Oaks center

Public outcry rises over fears that the historical theater and shops will be torn down



David Bush of the Greater Houston Preservation Alliance puts up a poster in support of saving the Landmark River Oaks Theatre at the organization's downtown office Thursday.

By LISA GRAY
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

Fear that the River Oaks Shopping Center, including its much-loved movie theater, might be demolished has fueled grass-roots interest in historic preservation — a surprising development in a city where many architectural landmarks have fallen without a fight.


In less than a week, an online petition sponsored by the Web site Houstonist.com has attracted more than 13,700 signers.

At Historic Houston's Web site, more than 4,000 individuals have registered to receive e-mail updates about the River Oaks Shopping Center and the Landmark River Oaks Theatre.

City Councilwoman Ada Edwards, whose District D includes the shopping center, said more than 100 letters and e-mail messages have flooded into her office — none of them form letters. She and other council members hope to persuade Houston-based Weingarten Realty Investors to change its plans.

"We're going to fight to find a balance between historic preservation and development," Edwards said.

Such issues haven't gotten much traction in Houston, where preservation laws are among the weakest in the country and residents have often watched passively as old buildings are torn down for new development.

"I haven't seen anything like it in the years I've been here," said David Bush, spokesman for the Greater Houston Preservation Alliance, which set off the furor last week when it named three art-deco landmarks to its Endangered Buildings List: the River Oaks Shopping Center, the Landmark River Oaks Theatre and the Bookstop in the former Alabama Theater.

All three properties are controlled by Weingarten Realty.


Black-Eyed Pea may go first
An architectural site plan obtained by the Houston Chronicle shows what tenants and preservationists say is the first phase of Weingarten's plans for River Oaks Shopping Center. At the northeast corner of Shepherd and West Gray, a free-standing, recently built Starbucks would remain, but the curved art-deco building that stands behind it — a building architecture historians deem of national significance — would be razed.


The building's current tenants include the Black-Eyed Pea restaurant, Three Brothers Bakery and Jos. A. Banks.

Two buildings would be erected in that center's place: a 6,400-square-foot restaurant and a 30,000-square-foot space for an anchor tenant. A parking garage would stretch behind the anchor store and the shopping-center building east of it.

The architectural drawings, bearing Weingarten's logo, were produced by Hermes Architects.

Marc Boucher, one of the architecture firm's principals, referred the Chronicle's calls to Weingarten: "We try to get the client to answer questions about these issues."

Via e-mail, company spokeswoman Amy Jones released a statement: "We do not comment on market rumors and have no additional information or comments to provide at this time. We will publicly announce any developments that affect the River Oaks Shopping Center if and when they occur."

Weingarten executives could not be reached for further comment.

But shopping-center tenants say their leasing agent has already shared some of Weingarten's plans with them.

"They're scheduled to take us down," said Fredericka Hunter, owner of Texas Gallery, in the same building as the theater.


Theater may go in 2008
Hunter said her leasing agent offered her replacement space on the third floor of the new building whose anchor tenant, she was told, would be Barnes & Noble.


Other tenants say the leasing agent has described similar plans. They say the building at the corner of Shepherd and West Gray is slated to be razed at the end of this year, and the building containing the theater could be demolished in early 2008.

Barnes & Noble operates the nearby Bookstop in the old Alabama Theater in the Alabama Shepherd Shopping Center, also on the preservation alliance's list of endangered buildings.

Barnes & Noble spokeswoman Carolyn Brown said, via e-mail, that Barnes & Noble has "made no announcements" of plans to build a new store in Houston. She referred all questions to Weingarten.

Hermes' Web site shows that the architecture firm has designed many shopping centers in Houston, including the distinctive Portofino. On Interstate 45 North, near The Woodlands, the Italianate center houses tenants such as PetsMart, Famous Footwear and DressBarn amid loose replicas of Venice's Doge's Palace and the Piazza San Marco.

At Tuesday's City Council meeting, filmmakers, historic preservationists and real-estate investors have signed up to speak in favor of preserving the River Oaks Shopping Center and the Bookstop.

The city Archaeological and Historical Commission next meets Aug. 24, and could begin the slow process of designating one or more of the buildings as historical.

The City Council has never made such a designation against a property owner's wishes. Even if the cumbersome process were completed, the owner could still demolish the building after a 90-day waiting period.

In Houston, Bush said, "the only tools at our disposal are persuasion and public opinion. And persuasion doesn't work when the other side won't talk to you."


'Win-win' plan suggested
Edwards and at-large Councilwoman Sue Lovell suggested that Weingarten consider constructing its high-rise development over the theater, leaving it intact.


"We'd like to find some win-win situation for everyone," said Lovell.

"We want to educate property owners about the benefits of designating their buildings as historic," said Randy Pace, the city's preservation officer. The benefits include a 15-year property tax exemption. The River Oaks Shopping Center would qualify for the designation, he said.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4077994.html



Keep What's Left of Old Houston!

 

edit:

 

Thats one of the things I hate about Houston. No concern for history - everything is left in the dust. Its like this city has no care in the world if they demolish landmarks.

double

 

The Ale House is already gone. Houston can't lose Marfreless too!

I never went to movies at the River Oaks or Alabama theaters when I was young. I always seemed to end up at the Garden Oaks theater. First trip to the River Oaks theater was when I was in college.