Tear Down Trouble

Historic Flagship Hotel collapses during demolition, worker rescued with theJaws of Life

Flagship Hotel after Ike and before the demolition began.
Flagship Hotel before Ike
Flagship Hotel rendering Oct 2009

The demolition of Galveston's historic Flagship Hotel took a dire turn when a section of the building collapsed Tuesday afternoon, trapping and seriously injuring a worker.

A Galveston spokesperson tells KTRK Ch. 13 that the worker had to be rescued with a Jaws of Life device and suffered life-threatening injuries. The worker was rushed to a hospital.

Flagship's demolition has been star crossed even before this incident, with video surfacing showing chunks of debris from the hotel getting thrown into the Gulf. Landry's — which owns the site, but has contracted out the demolition — plans to turn the site into a Pleasure Pier, complete with amusement rides along the lines of Kemah.

"Our thoughts are with the victim of today’s accident and his family," Jeff Cantwell, senior vice president of development at Landry's, said in a statement Tuesday night.. "The demolition contractor and general contractor have been onsite and in control of the activities throughout the demolition process. Landry’s is working closely with the City of Galveston and has suspended all construction work until a thorough investigation is complete."

Landry's has previously denounced the demolition team — Ardent Construction and its subcontractor, Grant MacKay Demolition Company — for allowing chunks of the hotel to end up in the water.

The Flagship is one of the more iconic structures in Galveston. If you've been to the island, you've no doubt noticed it stretching out over the water. But it suffered extensive damage in Hurricane Ike.

The demolition of the building is a slow, exacting process that has already taken more than a month and a half.

For more details on the accident, stay tuned to CultureMap.

Watch the KTRK video on the debris problems with the demolition:

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”