Norman Alston Architects

Photo of the day: Hurricane season

With hurricane Ike bearing down on Texas, I thought it appropriate to post this photo just for the beautiful but somewhat chilling image it provides. It was taken by my daughter Karen a few days ago as hurricane Hannah worked its way up the Atlantic seaboard and was approaching Boston. I have not converted it to black and white. I understand that these are pretty much the real colors at the time it was taken.

West Texas Travels: Trouble in Austin Terrace

Yesterday, I mentioned the great neighborhoods I found in El Paso, especially the Austin Terrace Historic District. Unfortunately, as is described in this story and as is often seen in historic districts, trouble began when a well-intentioned and apparently well-to-do homeowner who sought to be a part of the good things happening in the neighborhood, sought to build a new house that was both incompatible with the historic district and inconsistent with the historic zoning. The City, however, issued a building permit without all of the approvals. Construction was well underway  before the mistake was discovered and construction stopped.

Mistakes of this kind are far from unknown in historic districts. What is different here is the lengths to which the City of El Paso was prepared to go to make things right.

West Texas Travels: El Paso

I'm sorry to say that I had only been to El Paso once in the past, and then just to attend a conference. It was not a great opportunity to get to know the town. This time, however, I had the chance to explore a bit and did so without the help of travel guides or advice from friends or natives. I was very excited to find quite an attractive city, from a downtown with many restored and waiting-to-be restored buildings, to the striking architecture of UTEP, and especially to the neighborhood I just happened across.

Much like my discovery in Toyah the previous day, I was driving a little west of the airport, when a magnificent Romanesque church tower up on a hill caught my eye. It turns out that the tower belonged to  an absolutely pristine Catholic Church and school complex, Lorretto Academy. In addition was the adjacent Austin Terrace Historic District and a wonderful neighborhood of great homes, pictured at left, many of which have commanding views of the City below. Wow. I plan on returning with a little more planning and research.

West Texas Travels: Toyah, Reeves County, Texas

As I waltzed across Texas a couple of days ago, the image of this building from the distance caused me to whip off at the next exit and check it out. In the wide open spaces of far, far west Texas, this abandoned, red and tan brick high school rose almost magically  out of the surrounding brush and stucco buildings. It's the 1912 high school for Toyah, Texas. As noted in this article in the Handbook of Texas, both the school and Toyah have seen better times.

Settles Hotel groundbreaking

On Thursday, August 21, the groundbreaking was held for the restoration of the Settles Hotel in Big Spring. It was a big enough deal to bring out Governor Rick Perry, pictured at left with new hotel owner and original son of Big Spring, Brint Ryan.

The groundbreaking actually marked the beginning of the environmental abatement work, which should be completed in the next 90 days. The design is still in progress and the project is not expected to begin serious construction before the end of the year. It was held at this time, however because 1) this date fit the Governor's schedule and 2) it was a chance to demonstrate to the citizens of Big Spring that, after almost 30 years of decline, the Settles Hotel is actually on the way back. Given the previous failed attempts at restoration of the hotel, the locals have been understandably skeptical.

There are a couple of additional photos after the jump and Midland tv news coverage of the event in this news video.