Former Rocket acquires historic site along Clear Lake

hakeem doesnt make his donations public, a good reason is because in the islamic faith, it says donate, but do not boast about it, and do it so that your left hand doesnt know how much your right hand has donated.

basically, if we donate to charities for the sake of showing off, whats the point...

i highly doubt hakeem gives a crap what you think of his acquisitions and his charitable deeds.

 

Too bad his right hand is destroying historical landmarks for profit.

I have already received phone calls about this. Trust me, demolishion etc will not happen without a fight. It is designated as a recorded Texas Historic Landmark. People are going to be pissed.

 

Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.

 

honestly, i wouldnt have even known about that place had he not bought it...

 

Well if you grew up or lived around Clear Lake you would have. I just don't want to see that area "developed". The house is a cool part of history. Every time I see the stupid condos that were recently built behind it I feel ill. That area is a part of the last untouched shore line of Mud Lake (that comes off of Clear Lake). It was natural like Armand Bayou Nature Center but was bulldozed for the gaudy condos.

Hopefully Hakeem will do something nice and restore the building and area etc. But I am leery.

 

Ouch! That could hurt.

 

But we do have the right to try and save historical, cultural or important landmarks. So unfortunately its Hakeem doing this but there will be a lot of people protesting. I imagine the PR hit was a factor in Landrys selling that property. seems cheap for 3 million

 

The 35000 Acre spread consisted of land he sold to the gov't for Armand Bayou Reserve and NASA, yeah it's probably about 40 acres now...oh, and he's not destroying the mansion (if the article said that it's wrong)....he actually co-owns the property w/ the townhouses and apartments behind it, they don't agree for it to be destroyed...

 

35,000 acres is plenty of space to build a terrorist headquarters....just saying.

 

What the heck?

I'll assume sarcasm. Just saying.

 

so is 40 acres, so is the area where astroworld used to be...

ur mentally ill son?

 

That's a different issue, the poster was implying that Hakeem owed him an explanation as to how he spends his money or if he's being charitable. That's what I objected to.

You can protest it if he decides to demolish that supposedly 'historic' site.

BTW, just wondering, how is a house built in the 1920s 'historic'?

 

to be honest with you I think it is more people wanting that land not developed than it is protecting that house. Its going to be developed eventually unfortunately

 

Damn, I would have bought it. I didn't even know it was for sale!

 

Many years ago, before NASA, The Kemah Boardwalk, the stilt homes of Clear Lake Shores and before the South Shore lighthouse, the peaceful Paleo Indians inhabited the shores of Clear Lake. During a time when Clear Lake was actually clear, the Indians enjoyed the indigenous fruits and bounty of fresh seafood.

There is a beautiful piece of land located on the North Shore of the lake, where the view is spectacular and the breezes are plentiful. There rests one of our landmarks, the stately West Mansion. Although it is somewhat in disrepair, it still retains much of the elegance and grandeur that marked the wealthy estates of its day.

The land was originally granted to Sarah Deel and her husband Robert “Honest Bob” Wilson.

They first built on the property in 1837. By 1916 maps show the property as the site of the Clear Lake Inn. In the mid 1920’s one of Houston’s wealthy politicians, James Marion West acquired the property. He hired Joseph Finger to design a palatial summer home in the Italian Renaissance style that was so popular at the time. Although West was born in Mississippi, the family relocated to Texas while he just still just a boy and considered himself a Texan.

It took only 3 years and $250,000 to complete the structure that became known as The West Mansion. It served as the family home for many years. With its’ 17,000 square feet, the house was built to accommodate many guests as well. The design boasts 16 bedrooms and 12 bathrooms. There is also a solarium, huge dining room, a mahogany paneled study, two-story living room, a music room, a magnificent staircase and even a private barber’s room. The house sits on over 100 acres of land that included a two story servants house, barns, garages, swimming pool and tennis courts.

It was here that “Silver Dollar” Jim West Jr. spent much of his time growing up. He also was very wealthy, but extremely eccentric. Jim, Jr. had a thing about Silver Dollars. He would keep hundreds of them around to use as tips for service people, poor children and his own amusement. He was fond of throwing handfuls of them on the floor of a restaurant just to watch the waitresses scramble. He was known to throw a few into the swimming pool during a party and watch his guests dive for them. He also had a thing for the color blue and had all of his 40 Cadillacs painted the same color blue.

When Jim Sr. passed away in 1941, his family vacated the Mansion. The senior Mr. West stipulated that after his departure, no family would live there. His family respected his wishes, packed up some belongings and left. When they left there were still sheets on the beds, utensils in the kitchen and drapes on the windows. Throughout the 40’s and 50’s vagrants and vandals ransacked the house. The once beautiful chandeliers, walnut and mahogany paneling, hardwood floors and Tunisian tile were in ruins. The property was sold to Humble Oil, which in turn donated it to Rice University. Rice planned on converting it to a marine Lab. Their plans changed when NASA entered into the picture. The Mansion became home to the Lunar Science and Planetary Institute. By 1985 Rice informed the Institute that they felt it was time to sell the property. Century Development Company made an offer that the Institute could not match. The Pappas family of the Pappas restaurant empire currently owns the property

http://www.thescenemagazine.com/May_2002/html/05_02-p20b.html

You can stop trying to downplay it's significance to the area and citizens just because Hakeem is "Muslim".

 

hakeem has done more for this city than "silver dollar man" ever has...

 

Go Hakeem!! Hakeem is a darn good capitalist. The man is living the American Dream.

He also donates a lot to charities and other causes.

Good combination!

Oh yeah, not a bad Bball player either.

Go Hakeem!!!!!

 

Well if he ruins the land for the sake of money he is doing something to hurt it.

 

You know, I find it difficult to tell if you're just ignorant or a bona fide a-hole. Do you just enjoy pulling things out of your arse or getting on people's nerves?

I honestly had no idea about the history of that land or why it's considered 'historic', therefore I asked.

Seriously, grow the heck up...and thanks for the link.

 

You have issues. Pretty idiotic thing to say.

Since Tiger is taking a different stand than your's on the issue, he is doing so because he is a muslim?

So are you taking opposite stand because Hakeem is a muslim? *laugh*

Not sure about the need to bring religion into all this...unless of course that's how you approached it.