“It’s an economic development connector that adjoins all sorts of interests, including academic with the University of Houston and Rice University, the Texas Medical Center, the Downtown business district, recreation, sports, entertainment and arts with the Museum District and the Theater District - it’s part of a larger vision. “Houston’s Main Street is more than a corridor,” Eury explains. One could argue that this interpretation of Main Street has eroded over time, partly due to neighboring cities expanding into one another akin to an intermingled Venn diagram, and partly due to the urban sprawl that saw more retail destinations established to accommodate the redistribution and spread of residential areas. Main Street, as a concept nationwide, is the idea that one strategically central thoroughfare could serve as a vital hub, home to retail and leisure gathering hot spots, that defines the zeitgeist of blossoming cities, villages and towns. It was during this climate that Eury, along with Houston civic leaders, spearheaded Central Houston - the goal of which is to encourage development, cultural growth and other improvements in the city’s heart. The bubble bursting in oil, real estate and banking sectors in the mid 80s created an economic downturn in which reinvestment was rendered extremely challenging. Through the 1970s and 1980s, as the bulk of retail activities relocated from Downtown toward the suburbs and The Galleria, the spirit of Main Street moved away from mainstream amenities. Main Street was home to a bevy of department stores such as Foley’s, Sakowitz, Neiman Marcus, Battlestein’s, Isabell Gerhart, Palais Royal, Oshman’s, Walter Pye’s and Woolworth’s, plus movie theaters, restaurants and other upscale boutiques. In the 1970s there was still eminence of the golden days of the 1940s and 1950s when the area near the 1000 block of Main Street was considered Houston’s premier retail center. While doing so, Eury remembers what it was like to arrive in Houston back in 1974 when he left a post as director of Community Planning Studies for the Urban Studies Center at the University of Louisville to attend graduate school at Rice while also holding a position of researcher at Rice Center (later Eury would become VP of research development for Rice Center).Įury’s wife, Gayle, would regularly take the bus to work at the Battlestein’s Department Store, which was located in Downtown on Main next to what is now the new JW Marriott. ![]() The ambiance that commingles past and present renders a suitable environment to hear Eury talk about the future of Houston’s core which is just outside the windows: Main Street Square. Finn and the 1913 Stowers Building (future home of Aloft Houston Downtown operated by Starwood Hotels and Resorts), alongside sparkling examples of new development such as the 2011 LEED Platinum Certified BG Group Place at 811 Main St. The spectacular scenery includes historic architecture such as the 1947 Art Deco City National Bank Building designed by Alfred C. ![]() ![]() On a clear winter day, the Houston Downtown Management District executive director and Central Houston president sits in a Houston Center high-rise conference room with floor-to-ceiling windows that offer a breathtaking panorama of an unmistakable Downtown skyline. “We’re striving to continue Downtown’s transformation,” Bob Eury says.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |