Noir Dame Blog

Retro-inspired culture and media – audio drama, classic TV and film

Among the casualties of Ike, as many retro fans know already, was the Balinese Room, a Galveston island institution that had survived Hurricanes Alicia and Carla, but could not withstand Ike, despite its “Category 2″ designation. It was one of the first things we learned about, after our mandatory evacuation to Dallas, and watching the chaos unfold on television. The Balinese, of course, had been home to Frank Sinatra and many “old school” performers over the years, and was rumored to be a fave of Sinatra’s tougher buddies. Later, it had inspired a song by ZZ Top and most recently sponsored live performances – funk, rock, though we held out hope for more traditional music. One thing for sure, it was a beautiful sight whenever we were in town.

Owner Scott Arnold says he is willing to entertain “serious” proposals from investors to rebuild at the site, but is more likely planning to create a themed-club and museum on Market Street, near the historic Strand, in a building he owns there. Even this is positive news – as the equally famed Hollywood Dinner Club never came back from Galveston’s past. Meanwhile, the Texas Historical Commission has people on site who are combing through the wreckage for anything they can salvage. If you have heard of someone who managed to take artifacts away from the debris, as a souvenir, please get in touch with Lori Schwarz at the City of Galveston, or contact Scott Arnold directly through the Balinese Room website.

Meanwhile, there’s more happy news regarding the historic hotel of Tremont House, which fortunately survived Ike with minimal flood damage, along with several other treasures of Galveston Island, like the Hotel Galvez, which was created after the 1900 storm (to learn more about the history of this event, we also highly recommend Isaac’s Storm.) Meanwhile, the Galveston Historic Foundation is accepting donations to help rebuild damage after the storm.

The Harbor House at Pier 21 received damage from high waters, which implies that the neighboring Pier 21 theater, which showed a dramatic reenactment of the 1900 Storm, as well as a movie about Galveston’s pirate past, also may have been damaged. Only Galveston residents have been allowed to return on a limited basis, and as of yet, we’ve heard nothing regarding other historic and retro-themed beauties in town – like the hot pink retro apartments across from the Bank of America on Market Street (between Frost Bank and the Galveston Historical Museum) and La King’s Confectionary, the ice cream shop with 1920s’ era fixtures and old-fashioned shelves for their candy. The confectionary is raised off the ground of the Strand, but it’s unclear from photos how high the flooding was in the area. A picture on Preservation Nation shows the Strand’s flooding, including at Colonel Bubbie’s army-navy surplus store.

You don’t have to be a New Yorker to be concerned about the imminent closure of Astroland, Coney Island’s remaining amusement park. Though, sheesh, I do remember when Brooklyn was the affordable part of the city!

Astroland was carrying on the proud tradition of Luna Park, which was Coney Island’s main park until it burned down in 1944.

In some ways, it’s a retread of other closures: a city loses an accessible park that attracted folks for decades – like Detroit’s Boblo Island, Houston’s Astroworld (closed in 2005) or Tennessee’s Opryland and Libertyland. Astroworld, as it happens, was sold by Six Flags because they expected a rich payday of $100-150 million. It sold for about $77 million. Hmm.

Owner Carol Albert has been engaged in a battle of brinksmanship with a company called Thor Equities, and its mogul Joseph Sitt. Albert sold (possibly under some pressure by the city) the land beneath Astroland to Thor, who shrunk the amount of space for public amusements from 15 to 9 acres, apparently hoping to build more condos on the waterfront. Albert has been having difficulty getting Sitt to agree to a renewal of their business lease, and decided to shut down on Friday, sixty-six years after her father-in-law first opened the park.

While Coney has seen some better years, it’s the only game in town for many New Yorkers. As a non-New Yorker, I can barely scratch the surface of a very complicated situation. Read instead the stories in the New York Times, blog Kinetic Carnival, the grassroots Save Coney Island group, Blog gowanuslounge.com and the Brooklyn Paper.

Fans of 1970s Coney flick The Warriors should know, though – the Wonder Wheel ain’t going no place, as it’s already been given historic preservation status. Still, Astroland can’t be preserved and improved? Can you dig it?