The Statler Hilton Hotel mentioned on Mad Men

Anyone catch the passing reference about the Statler Hilton Hotel on this Sunday's Mad Men? It was the scene where Conrad Hilton (the hotelier who that blond chick is related to) tells Don Draper that he wants him to handle the advertising for his hotels, such as the Waldorf Astoria and the Statler.

So now that the Statler has been mentioned on a critically acclaimed show, will someone do something to save it? Instead of putting a big shroud/t-shirt/sheet over it?

More about the Statler Hotel and its endangered status here.

Weekend Plans

1. The State Fair of Texas opens this weekend - get your fill of fried everything and say hello to Big Tex. Don't forget to go to the pig races and check out the butter sculptures.

2. Bridging the Trinity with Santiago Calatrava - Friday night party on the Continental Bridge with Santiago Calatrava, Mayor Tom Leppert, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson and other Dallas movers and shakers as Dallas celebrates the building of Calatrava's Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge. Let me know how it is, 150 bucks to drink wine on a bridge is a bit steep for me. Back in high school, we kids used to go drink under a Trinity River bridge for free.

3. All About Uptown Festival - you mean there is more to Uptown than shirt guys and 30,000 millionaires? Apparently, there is. Info here.

Meet my new friend George...

George, as in George Nelson. This past Saturday the Architect and I went to the new MCM furniture store Form on N. Henderson. Sitting there was this beautiful George Nelson for Herman Miller credenza. Five minutes later it was mine.

Some history on George Nelson here.

Do stop by Form - it is on N. Henderson near the Slip Inn and right next to The Pearl Cup espresso bar. We were privileged to be the first sale for the owner, Buddy Hradecky. He has only been open for about 2 weeks, so stop on in and welcome him and his beautiful wares to the neighborhood. Also, the area where Form is located has been completely transformed. Lots of new local shops, bars and restaurants are popping up on this end of Henderson. The Architect and I will definitely be stopping down here more often.

Model for the Perot Museum of Nature and Science Unveiled

Today Mayor Tom Leppert unveiled a model of the future home of the Natural History and Science Musuem - soon to be the Perot Museum of Nature and Science. The building is designed by the the 2005 Pritzker Prize winning architect Thom Mayne and will be located in Victory Park.

Check out the photos here.

Weekend Plans - Festival Edition

1. Oktoberfest is this weekend in Addison - all the beer, brats, and kraut you can eat.

2. Grapefest is this weekend in Grapevine - wine, wine, and more wine.

3. Plano Balloon Festival - go see some hot air balloons and also see the celtic rock band, The Killdares.

Bonus event: If you are not in the festival mood, take the newly opened DART Green Line down to Deep Ellum for the Deep Ellum Gallery Walk on Saturday night.

The Chain of Eco-Homes Competition

The Chain of Eco-Homes Competition is an architecture competition to build a eco-friendly and sustainable home in the city of Greensburg, Kansas. Greensburg was literally wiped off the face of the map after a tornado ripped through the town in 2007. The city has chosen to rebuild the city using eco-friendly and sustainable methods.

The Architect submitted a competition entry last week - he is competition entry number 061 - "Linear Villa." In addition to a jury reviewing the projects and picking the winner, the competition is allowing the public to cast their own vote for their favorite projects.

Check out all the projects here and be sure to vote for your favorite - No. 061!

P.S. - The projects are not listed in numerical order.

Weekend Plans

1. The Dallas Art Dealers Assoc. (DADA) gallery walk is this Saturday. Map and info here.

2. Sunday, bring your pooch and head to the F is for Frank Studio where you can get you pooch's picture taken, pick up some custom dog tags and treat your favorite canine to a puppy sundae. Proceeds benefit the NorCal Boxer Rescue. Info here.

3. West Village Sidewalk Sale - this weekend the trendy stores at WV will be having massive sales to clear out merchandise and make way for Fall - which may or may not occur sometime in November or December.

Upcoming homes tours

It is the fall homes tour season. Mark these down on your calendars:

1. Austin AIA Homes Tour - October 10-11, 2009

2. Dallas AIA Homes Tour - November 7-8, 2009

Salim Nourallah in SPACE

Some music for your ears this morning - Salim Nourallah at Hal Samples' weekly music show collaboration with the Dallas Observer's DC9 at Night blog.

Dallas Urban Lab

The UT Austin School of Architecture for the last two years has this program called Dallas Urban Lab, where architecture students have been conceptualizing our fair city. First they were focused on West Dallas, now they are looking at ways to link Victory Park, the Design District, and the future Trinity River Park together.

Check out the progress here.

Lake Highlands Town Center on hold

I suspected that something was up since I hadn't seen much movement on the site in the last month or so. Now comes the official word that Phase 1 of the Lake Highlands Town Center won't be opening until 2012.

So what is the Lake Highlands Town Center? LHTC is supposed to be a mixed-use development similar to Mockingbird Station. The site is located at the corner of Walnut Hill and Skillman. Prescott Realty knocked down some unkempt apartments to make way for this future development. The developer has promised shops, upscale apartments/lofts, office space, and zero-lot line townhomes. Additionally there is promise of a DART station as well. You can view renderings of LHTC here.

What concerns me is that Prescott Realty has never disclosed who the anchor tenants are. Does that mean they don't have any lined up yet? Most people who live in Lake Highlands have expressed (me included) that they would like a supermarket along the lines of Sprouts, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's; NOT a Walmart. The other things people want are restaurants - which is sorely lacking in Lake Highlands. Anyone who has tried to go to Mi Cocina or Picasso's on Saturday night knows what I am talking about. Prescott Realty has never disclosed whether anyone has signed a lease to set up shop in the development.

Another disconcerting thing is that Prescott Realty has said that they need $70 million in financing to begin Phase One construction - money they don't have at the moment. So, until they get the money, nothing is going to get built. While I was not a fan of the rundown housing that bordered my sub-division, I am also not enamored of having a huge swath of vacant land either. Now understand my issue with the old apartments was not that poor people lived there - my issue with it was that the owners of that housing did not maintain the apartments and they were clearly in disrepair. Now, we may end up with a large naked plot of land to stare at for the foreseeable future. A lot prime for a Wally-World type store. That just makes my inner Howard Roark go crazy.

Read the whole article about LHTC here.

Lake Highlands Town Center site here.

Tap, tap, tap...is this thing on?

Yes, this thing is still on. The reason for the lack of posts last week was due to a horrendous cold I have had for the last week. Today is the first day, I actually have some energy. So I am going to blast y'all with multiple posts today to make up for last week. Enjoy!