Posted Sep 22, 2023, 3:13 PM
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FYHA
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Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Houston - Wichita, KS
Posts: 3,153
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Great news for the historic Eldorado Ballroom!
https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/a...council462280/.
Quote:
Eldorado could soon be re-installing its historic blue marquee sign, if approved by Houston City Council
The ballroom went through a $10 million renovation, with a grand re-opening earlier this year, but was not able to install its sign – which is prohibited under the city’s signage code.
ASHLEY BROWN | POSTED ON SEPTEMBER 13, 2023, 4:24 PM
(LAST UPDATED: SEPTEMBER 15, 2023, 9:25 AM)
Daisy Espinoza / Houston Public Media
The Historic Eldorado Ballroom in Third Ward could soon be installing its blue marquee sign. The ballroom went through a $10 million renovation, with a grand re-opening earlier this year, but was not able to install its sign – which is prohibited under the city's signage code.
Houston City Council held a public hearing on Wednesday and will soon vote on whether or not to exempt historic buildings that previously had rooftop signs from its signage ordinance, amending its chapter 33 code. The city's Archaeological and Historical Commission held a meeting in late June to discuss making changes to the ordinance – unanimously voting for the exemption which is now in the hands of city leaders.
"The historic preservation division of the planning department has a long history of supporting the redevelopment of our city’s historic structures in a way that honors the history of those buildings,” said the Planning and Development Department’s Deputy Director, Jennifer Ostlind. "By establishing an exception to the sign code, this amendment will create a pathway for eligible restoration projects to reconstruct signs as they were originally intended."
The Eldorado Ballroom opened its doors in 1939 and was a staple in the Third Ward Community for Black residents to hear music like jazz and a gathering place for the neighborhood. The ballroom now has the Rado MKT, a cafe and local market, an artists' gallery, community and meeting spaces, and a live music venue.
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Additional good news for the landmark bridges in Montrose
https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/a...orize-funding/
Quote:
Broken Montrose-area bridge lights to get fix after Houston leaders authorize funding
The Houston City Council voted Wednesday to spend $2.66 million to replace a series of decorative bridge lights along the Southwest Freeway. Construction on a new set of lights likely won’t begin for at least a year.
ADAM ZUVANICH | POSTED ONSEPTEMBER 20, 2023, 2:02 PM
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Decorative lights remain on the Montrose Boulevard bridge that crosses the Southwest Freeway in Houston, but they no longer work, according to the Houston First Corporation.
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A fix is coming to a series of decorative bridge lights in Houston's Montrose area, which once were a source of pride for the city but in recent years had become a sore spot.
The Houston City Council voted nearly unanimously Wednesday to spend $2.66 million on a project to replace the out-of-order lights, which in 2017 were placed along six bridges that cross over the Southwest Freeway. The series of changing, colorful lights – which shined when Houston last hosted the Super Bowl, when the Astros won their first World Series and during Pride Month, among other occasions – began to fail within a few years after they were installed.
The total cost to replace them is expected to be $4 million, according to the city. The remaining funds will be provided by the Houston First Corporation, a local government corporation that manages city-owned properties and serves as the city's sales and marketing arm, and that entity also will be tasked with maintaining a new lighting system for a period of 10 years.
"I'm excited about this," council member David Robinson said during Wednesday's meeting. "Let's light the candle."
Houston First said in a statement it is putting together a long-term capital plan to cover its share of the construction costs for a new series of lights as well as maintenance. It also said a design firm had been selected for the project, although a spokesperson for Houston First said the firm could not yet be publicly identified because a contract was still in the works.
The firm's work on a new lighting system is expected to begin by mid-October, according to Houston First.
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