HOUSTON CLUB HISTORY · In its heyday - the mid-1950s to the mid-1980s - the Houston Club was the power broker club in the city. · Think "Mad Men" with a Texas twist. · Established in 1894 as the city's first private club, the Houston Club had four previous homes before settling into 811 Rusk. · The names of early members still dominate streets, buildings and institutions around town: William Marsh Rice, John Henry Kirby, Jesse Jones, M.D. Anderson, Hugh Roy Cullen, Ben Taub · Until the 1980s, membership was the exclusive privilege of white men, though plenty of women dined and socialized there · The first African-American member joined in 1981 and women were admitted as members the following year · Rin Tin Tin even paid a visit in 1956 (the real Rin Tin Tin) · In more recent decades, George H.W. Bush, Robert Mosbacher and James A. Baker III had a table in the back corner of the dining room that was ultimately christened the Bush Room. · Back in 1994, a book was published about the Houston Club, "The Houston Club and Its City: One Hundred Years," Dorothy Knox Howe Houghton IMPLOSION DETAILS · Skanska USA Commercial Development is the developer · Houston Club Building · Empty 18-story office building · Implosion is between 6:45am and 7:30am · 520lbs of explosives · Streets closed at 5am creating a 2-block perimeter within Smith, Prairie, McKinney and San Jacinto streets · Instead of being imploded, the building will be dismantled floor by floor (similar to the deconstruction of the old Sheraton hotel on Polk · Skanska plans to salvage some of the steel and concrete and is hoping to reuse some of the old marble and stone in the new tower NEW BUILDING · Name : Capitol Tower · 700,000 square feet · The entrance of the building, too, would change from Rusk Street to Capitol, reflecting the building's proposed new name. That name, however, could well change once a major tenant signs up for space. · Capitol Tower will have 34-stories · High standards of environmental stability · Exterior : would feature a "light box" effect, where a portion of the building would glow at night and have a unique reflection during the day · The north side of the building would offer shade from the sun, which could make the ground level attractive to a restaurant with an outdoor patio. · The tower is in the planning stages · Construction will not start until a tenant is found for a significant portion of the space · The pocket park on the northwest corner of the block would go away as the new building and parking garage would encompass the entire block, which is bounded by Capitol, Rusk, Milam and Travis.

• published: 19 Oct 2014
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