According to the Houston Business Journal, the River Oaks Theater will not be razed by Weingarten Realty as previously planned thanks, in part, to Houston residents, who turned out en masse both on and offline to protest the leaked plans to destroy the Houston landmark.
The center directly across from the theater containing, among other things, Black Eyed Pea and Three Brothers Bakery, will, however, be torn down to make way for a Barnes and Noble. Somehow, they managed to save Starbucks…thank, GOD, because we all know how important it is to keep a Starbucks on BOTH sides of the street.
Three Brothers has been offered a spot in the new development, which is good for the local baker. No word on where Black Eyed Pea plans to re-locate.
For now at least, it appears that most of the shopping center will be saved including the theater, which was of the greatest importance. No word yet on the fate of the Alabama Bookstop, but it seems logical that since Barnes and Noble owns Bookstop, it will be hard to save. I hope that isn’t the case. We lose far to many historic structures around here as it is.