Click to enlarge these first looks at the new-look 508 Park Avenue. You'll find more, many more, below.

​Amongst all the maybes, could-bes and one-days downtown, one development's as close as it gets to a Sure Thing: 508 Park Avenue, which First Presbyterian is in the process of turning into The Museum of Street Culture to be curated by blues historian Alan Govenar. At this very moment, in fact, reps from First Presby and Good Fulton & Farrell are at Dallas City Hall presenting to the Landmark Commission's Central Business District/West End Task Force the pages of plans you will find below, which include your very first look at the rooftop deck and next-door amphitheater, which Landmark signed off on last year.

First Presbyterian found this never-before-seen photo of 508 Park as it looked in '46 in the Jack Warner Collection at USC.

​There are actually three presentations below -- for 508 Park, 1900 Young (which will be razed and replaced by the outdoor concert site) and 1905 Canton, the latter of which is presently a fenced-off patch of weeds. Jon Rollins at GFF, who will make the presentation to Landmark, says there have been some tweaks since last we spoke about the project -- such as the addition of solar panels and rain-water storage units on Canton and restrooms to the amphitheater site, as well as WPA-style murals on the exterior of the site where Robert Johnson and Bob Wills once recorded. "So we'll start to tell the story of the building on the outside of the building," he says, "before you even step foot into 508 Park."

As for the rooftop deck and that dance floor and the new elevator, he says: "The church all along has wanted to occupy the roof, which has a wonderful view of the downtown skyline. 508, when it's reused, will be all about spaces for public gathering, arts groups and the connection between the public and the private. It'll create a space for people to gather and listen to music, which seemed like a natural program, and to be able to do that we needed to make sure it was accessible for the mobility impaired. And we needed to provide shade so people could use it in the summer, and the rail is for safety. But because it's historic, it's important for us not to disturb how the building meets the sky, which is why were using glass."

Rollins says 1900 Young will begin coming down sometime before the end of April, when their certificate of demolition expires; there's some abatement that must take place first in both existing buildings.

Now, on a related note: Carol Adams at First Presby also directs our attention to the just-updated-and-revised 508 Park Ave. website, which offers more history about former Warner Bros. movie storage facility -- including the photo you see above, recently discovered in USC's Cinematic Arts Library. (Who knew there were windows on the side presently devoured by 1900 Young?) She promises more from the archives soon. Till then, the future awaits below ...More >>

Photo by Harry Bennett, via eBay seller "ericdatz"

​A couple of years back we virtually toured the Mercantile Bank Building as it looked following its 1958 redo, when Heritage Auctions made available 17 never-before-seen photos of R.L. Thornton's skyscraper taken by legendary Chicago-based architectural-photo firm Hedrich Blessing. Those photos, offered in a single package initially guesstimated to be worth several thousand, never did sell (thought for sure Forest City would have snapped 'em up). Only recently, on behalf of a still-interested Friend of Unfair Park, I asked Heritage's PR man Noah Fleisher is the seller was still interested in parting with the pictures. He said he'd look into it.

Photo by William Langley, via eBay seller "ericdatz"

​Then, a couple of days back, Friend of Unfair Park PeterK dispatched me a trio of photos taken inside the mighty Merc in the 1940s, not long after it was finished in '43. Back then, of course, it was a significant structure for myriad reasons: It counted among its architects Walter W. Ahlschlager, famous for his work in Chicago and New York City. It was, by all accounts, the sole significant skyscraper built in the U.S. during World War II. And it was, till '54, the tallest building in the city.

Turns out there are far more than three photos of the Merc being sold on eBay: A seller in San Diego is sitting on a dozen, each still sitting a mere $9.99 with four days left, all but one taken by William Langley, whose own career appears to span the rough-n-tumble days of the Dallas Dispatch to the Texas Centennial Exposition in '36 (where he rounded up "beautiful bevies") to an ad assignment so unusual (at the time, at least) it landed him in Life magazine in 1959. (And Langley, intriguingly, mentored a young Jeff Kimball, who would go on to become the cinematographer responsible for the look of Top Gun, among other familiar titles.)

I'd begin the tour here. Then, in no particular order: here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and, finally, here. Interestingly, the last photo -- the only one with actual people in it -- wasn't taken by Langley. At least, it's not credited to him. Rather, says the seller, the back of the photo is stamped: "HARRY BENNETT - 2108 McKinney - Dallas, Texas Phone 7-4906."

Heritage Auctions

​I'd called Keith Manoy, one of the city's senior transpo planners, about this earlier in the day; but since then I've heard from one of his colleagues, who promises more details about those Elm and Commerce conversions -- a time line, to be specific -- sooner than later. But while I had Manoy on the phone, and since I'm very likely to bid on this 1938 Dallas Steers handbill you see at right that Heritage is auctioning off in February, I had to ask: How's that Union Station-to-Oak Cliff streetcar line coming? Because, ya know, it's been a while, though I heard last week the project was out for bid.

Matter of fact, says Manoy, it sure is, with bids due back some time in March. "And as far as the time frame, we currently expect the project to start construction in April 2013 and be completed around June 2014." He also mentioned something more or less new to the 1.6-mile-long project: Shortly after the feds signed off on the project's environmental assessment last summer, they kicked in an additional $3 million for what's called a "passing track" that will be installed on Zang near E. Oakenwald.

"It's more for the longer-term project," Manoy says. "It will allow a streetcar vehicle to pull over and let another one pass. In the sort term, if a vehicle breaks down we'll have a way to continue service, since it's a single track. With the passing track we can pull it over and continue service and at the end of service day we can pull it out of there." Kind of like a "RIP track," I said, having watched Unstoppable 72 times on cable. "Yes," he said patiently, "kind of like that."

Also, he says, city and DART officials are awful close to picking a car for the line. "I don't want to say too much about it," he says when asked, "but probably in the next couple of months we'll know for sure." Nothing retro, though. Something like this. Won't get you to Steers games either. It's not a time machine.

Etta James and the host of The !!!! Beat, Bill "Hoss" Allen

​Last night, I got a text from Peter Schmidt, who could not believe I've never written about a short-lived 1966 TV show called The !!!! Beat, hosted by iconic Nashville deejay Bill "Hoss" Allen. Wrote Peter, who'd come across it yesterday after a lunchtime discussion about Etta James turned up an extraordinary clip from the series, "Turns out the show was filmed at WFAA because Nashville had no color TV facilities."

Oh, right -- that's the show from which we used to pull Freddie King videos whenever they'd show up on YouTube. Which was but a tip of the tip of the iceberg: The series was shot on film and nationally syndicated (it debuted on WAII in Atlanta, for instance, on May 7, 1966), aired for 26 episodes and featured everyone from Otis Redding to Archie Bell and the Drells to Joe Tex to Louis Jordan, and featured no less than Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown and David "Fathead" Newman in the house band.

​"And if you watch the show in order, Gatemouth begins with a beat-to-shit guitar ... and then a little bit into the show he gets a new guitar, so it looks better," says George Gimarc, who, but of course, is a student of the show. "When you have him trading licks with Freddie King, oh my God. And to see Little Gary Ferguson, who was Michael Jackson before Michael Jackson, and Barbara Lynn, who you forget played guitar." The first episode was shot on January 31, 1966; the next nine, during the first two weeks of February, many on the same day. Best Gimarc can tell, through his own research and chats with former WFAA cameramen, though The !!!! Beat was shot here, it never aired in Dallas.

But unlike WFAA's legendary Ron Chapman-hosted Sump'n Else, which aired locally from '65 till '68 and saw most of its footage erased almost immediately after broadcast, The !!!! Beat goes on: In 2005 German-based Bear Family released six volumes' worth of broadcasts, in addition to a CD compilation featuring some of the show's lesser-knowns. (Amazon has the DVDs too, at a higher price tag.) According to Gimarc, for decades the show was thought to be lost -- till, that is, Willie Nelson began going through and selling off his personal belongings when he had the taxman breathing down his neck in the early '90s. Rumor is, the entire collection was in his possession.More >>

I felt the need last night, the need for the Speed channel, which carried the live-from-Scottsdale broadcast of the Barrett-Jackson auction -- where, as you're well aware by now, they put a certain hearse of local renown on the bidding block. So, then, how much did they fetch for Vernon O'Neal's '64 Caddy that took John Kennedy from Parkland Memorial to Dallas Love Field? Not nearly as much as they'd expected (and, certainly, hoped): a mere $160,000. or $176,000 with the buyers commission. For around the same price you could have also bought this 1963 Volkswagen 23 Window Deluxe Microbus Samba with matching 1971 Eriba Puck camping trailer; this 1969/1970 Shelby GT500 Fastback; or this '51 Mercury with the 276cid Flathead.

eBay seller "historicimages05"

Nell Owen

​Amidst all the ruckus over the Dallas Independent School District board's more-than-likely decision to close James B. Bonham Elementary, one thing's been overlooked: Its storied past as The School Where The Prettiest U.S. School Teacher once taught. That's a certifiable fact: In December 1952 speech teacher Nell Owen was named "Prettiest U.S. School Teacher" in a contest sponsored by CBS and announced during the prime-time radio broadcast of Our Miss Brooks on December 21, 1952 (during the "Magic Christmas Tree" episode, to be specific, which you can listen to here sans the hullabaloo). Why, she even made it onto the cover of Life magazine, where she was the subject of a lengthy and flattering profile that described her "as durable as she is fetching."

I didn't know anything about this forgotten footnote till Friend of Unfair Park PeterK dispatched the heads-up that there's an original United Press photo of Owen for sale on eBay. No one has yet submitted a bid with five hours left; it's all of $9.99. And because that's what we do -- Peter especially, his having logged many hours as a researcher at the Dallas Public Library years ago -- we discovered there's more, much more, to her tale. For instance ...More >>

Barrett-Jackson

​This is the week Barrett-Jackson auctions off the 1964 Cadillac Hearse that transported President John Kennedy from Parkland Memorial Hospital to Love Field. Me, I've got my eye on this sweet '75 Pacer. But the rest of the car world -- or, at least, the 1,200, give or take, who make up the Professional Car Society -- is awaiting the hearse, which has changed hands only a few of times since it was originally bought by Vernon O'Neal for his Oak Lawn funeral home in October 1963.

This evening, The Los Angeles Times checks in with Steve Lichtman of the Professional Car Society, which has done is due diligence and vows this is The Real Deal, no doubt about it. The real question is: How much will it go for?

How do we know this is the actual hearse that transported Kennedy's body?
We have kept track of this car over the years. People have seen it; they know that it has the correct serial number. Various members of the club have seen it, and the history is correct. We know who has owned it and where it has been. ...

How much do you think people will bid for it?
It's hard to say the value. The value that is going to come with it is the value that people place on a collectible that relates to President Kennedy's assassination. There's nothing to compare it to. It's going to be a wait-and-see thing what the value is.

I just asked Kennedy Assassination Fetishist (his word) Gordon Keith how much he'd bid. His answer: "Since I'm a man of limited means, I would bid $10,000 on the Kennedy hearse and $20,000 on the Lee Harvey Oswald hearse. As a man of limited means."

Garage Hangover

There are plenty more photos of the Rain Kings (this one's circa 1966) over on Chris Bishop's invaluable website.

​A few weeks ago I spoke with Chris Bishop, otherwise known as the man behind the great website Garage Hangover, which recalls obscure '60s garage-rock bands so you don't have to. After a few visits in recent months, I wondered: What fuels his interest, especially given the amount of Dallas bands that have appeared on the site?

"Well, first, the scene there was so great," said Bishop, who lives in upstate New York after a stint in Houston. He was a collector who became a devotee. "And when I'd get a record I'd find more information and hope to tell a story, and if there was nothing out there I'd post. I've tried to cover bands that haven't been covered in detail, which is why I haven't covered the well-known acts. I figure if I can't add anything new to it, why bother."

Which brings us to The Rain Kings.More >>

While awaiting some return calls I was browsing through Vimeo when I came across this freshly posted -- and quite lovely -- short about the late, great Metro Diner on Gaston. Owner Wayne Adams locked the door for the last (and damned near the first) time at 2 p.m. April 10 to make way for more Baylor parking. I drove by the diner only a few days ago, and it was heartbreaking to see the place stripped of its neon, its windows replaced with wood. This was made well before its demise was imminent.

Update: In the comments, a Friend of Unfair Park says this looks like a YouPlusDallas video. Yes, yes it was -- from July 2010. But the score was different. I like the new one much, much better.

Heritage Auctions

Jim Lovell's Apollo 13 checklist, which sold in November but remains in a Dallas safe

​Back on November 30, our cross-the-street neighbors at Heritage Auctions dispatched a celebratory missive headlined: "Apollo 13 checklist brings $388,375 at Heritage Auctions in Dallas." (Note to self: Time to clean out in-box.) But if you check Heritage's website, the listing for the historic artifact, kept by Jim Lovell during the moonshot that wasn't made even more famous by Ron Howard and Tom Hanks, now reads: "Sold for: Not Sold." The reason: NASA's contesting the ownership of that particular item and others made available at the end of November during Heritage's Space Signature® Auction.

That's per an Associated Press account out of Miami in which NASA chief Charles Bolden says there have been "fundamental misunderstandings and unclear policies" about who owns astronauts' keepsakes, following one lawsuit filed by the agency in Miami in which NASA contested ownership of a video cam Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell took to the moon. "These are American heroes, fellow astronauts, and personal friends who have acted in good faith," says Bolden, "and we have committed to work together to find the right policy and legal paths forward to address outstanding ownership questions."

The AP piece says Lovell's notebook, as well as items from Rusty Schweickart and Alan Shepard also auctioned off in November, are staying in Dallas till they get this whole thing sorted out.

Heritage's spokesman Noah Fleisher tells Unfair Park that the auction house isn't getting in the middle of the tussle between the astronauts and NASA. But he will confirm: "The stuff is still here in the vault at HA, pending resolution; same with the sale status."