Houston’s historic Kirby Mansion has been demolished after city inspectors briefly halted the work because crews had started without a required demolition permit. The 36-room Tudor Revival home at 2000 Smith St. had never received historic landmark designation, leaving it without that layer of protection. There was “not much left” of the 132-year-old mansion after the demolition resumed on Monday, Nov 2, according to a report by ABC13. Filings by the new owner point to a possible gas station and convenience-store development on the site, the Houston Chronicle reported.Preservationists and community members were concerned about the fate of mansion, which changed hands in late September, when OB Texas Properties LLC bought it. The LLC is owned by Omair Bashir, whose business interests include the Brake Time gas station chain, according to public records. Bashir and his companies did not comment on plans for the property’s redevelopment, Houston Public Media reported.
Demolition complete
Demolition began Friday, but was halted by city inspectors after they found the crew did not have the nrequired permit. Crews had already destroyed about half the building before a city inspector arrived, according to Preservation Houston.The paperwork explains part of the confusion. A plumbing permit for sewer disconnection was issued on Oct. 14, but an inspection six days later identified outstanding corrections that had to be addressed before a demolition permit could be issued. Crews began work on Oct. 30 without the required authorization, prompting city inspectors to halt the demolition. The owner subsequently obtained the demolition permit later that day, allowing work to resume. By early Monday, crews had reduced the historic Midtown mansion to rubble, KFDM reported. The outlet said the mansion was reduced to rubble.The house had not been open to the public in more than a decade. In early October, Preservation Houston’s program and communications director, Jim Parsons, said the building looked intact. “It seems like it’s been kept pretty intact. You don’t see broken windows, you don’t see holes in the roof, so that’s encouraging. I would assume that it’s kind of in a mothballed state, for lack of a better word,” Parsons told Houston Public Media.Originally built in the 1894 for businessman JS Price, the house was purchased by lumber magnate John Henry Kirby in 1896. The 1926 work was an extensive remodeling and enlargement that created the mansion’s Tudor Revival character. A 2018 Preservation Houston notice warned that a prospective buyer under contract did not intend to retain the building. That sale did not end in demolition, and the house stood for eight more years. The house never received formal historic landmark designation, leaving preservationists with fewer options to prevent its demolition. Preservationists argued that the mansion was historically significant, pointing to notable visitors such as former presidents George H.W. Bush and Franklin D. Roosevelt.On Sunday night, preservationists held a vigil organized by Mister McKinney’s Historic Houston in an effort to save the historic mansion.Talking to Hello Houston, the Preservation Houston Executive Director Jennifer Kapral said, “There’s a long history, there’s a lot of craftsmanship, a lot of significance to this building. And we’re losing it to a gas station and convenience store, from what we can tell from all the permits.”“It’s a time where a lot of Houstonians are telling us, ‘Enough is enough’. We’re looking at policy change, at bringing together different advocacy groups to figure out how we can change this culture in the city,” Kapral told HPM.
