After Kirby Mansion demolition, Houstonians call for stronger safeguards for historic structures

During Wednesday's city council meeting, nearly a dozen Houstonians called for stronger safeguards to protect the city's historical structures after the demolition of the beloved Kirby Mansion , which they said began without proper permitting.

"Less than 1% of the buildings in Houston are considered historic. That is minuscule," Phoebe Tudor, the chairman of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, told Houston Public Media at City Hall on Wednesday. "I love Houston. I love the dynamism and the fact that it is so friendly to businesses. But that does not have to be at the expense of our historic buildings. You know we’ve lost so many over time, and people are tired of it."

Tudor said that the city needs moratoriums on the demolition of historic buildings until there’s a waiting period. She also called for city leaders to initiate landmark designations for significant historic buildings, and help facilitate discussions between owners of historic properties and those who would like to save them.

According to public records, OB Texas Properties LLC’s registered agent, Omair Bashir, is also the registered agent of Smith St. C Store LLC and has business connections to Brake Time Corner Market LLC — a convenience store and gas station company.

Bashir and his companies have not responded to repeated requests for comment regarding further development plans for the property.

"There were three offers to the owners of the Kirby Mansion to buy it and preserve it, which were not accepted, and then it was sold to the developers of a gas station," she said. "That should just not be allowed to happen. We need our city to really help us, and that’s what we’re asking for."

Former Harris County Historical Commissioner, Jason Fuller — an owner of a historic home — also spoke at the meeting. Fuller said he has lived near the building for decades and has been monitoring the situation. On the morning of Oct. 30, he drove past the demolition. After noticing that an excavator began to take off large sections of the house, he attempted to halt the take-down from outside. When that didn't work, Fuller broke in through a locked gate, and then confronted the supervisor.

According to Fuller, the apparent supervisor told him that they had the necessary permits, and told him to get off their property. The destruction of the home finally stopped when Fuller approached the excavator. The demolition continued later.

Fuller said the group responsible for the demolition was "not really a reputable company."

"They would have had additional staff out there to secure the site to make sure that there was a water source for dust mitigation. They would have closed off sidewalks for safety concerns, and they didn’t do any of that," he said in an interview with Houston Public Media . "They violated city ordinance and state law. They also purposely selected a Friday afternoon of Halloween weekend when everybody was going to be distracted and focused elsewhere. And their thought was, ‘We’ll just go ahead and pay the nominal fine afterwards, and we don’t even care.’"

Several council members expressed support for the speakers. Council member Sallie Alcorn thanked Fuller for his efforts.

"I know that later they did get the demolition permit but they definitely acted without one and to the fullest extent of a fine that can be given to this group I certainly want to make sure that happens because you can't demolish things without a permit," Alcorn said. "And we need to make that loud and clear... If they think we don't care or nothing is going to happen to them, it’s just going to keep happening."