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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 23, 1982)
state " 1 -«& Battalion/Page 4 June 23, r NorthPark-Houston to include art, theater Architect plans giant ‘mall of the future United Press International DALLAS — The shopping center of the future will have museum-quality art and live theater entertainment. It will have a central package pickup point so customers won’t have to carry merchandise around with them. It will have an electronic parking control system to direct motorists to the nearest available parking spot. Above all, it will have sales personnel who are helpful and friendly. These ideas — and many, many more — come from the fertile mind of Raymond Nasher, who moved to the fore front of shopping center de velopers in the 1960s when he put up the extremely successful NorthPark center in Dallas. NorthPark, completed in 1965, won the “Design of the Decade” award from the American Insti tute of Architects and is one of the most frequently copied shopping malls ever built. Over the years, Nasher has been involved in the develop ment of about a dozen shopping centers. Now he is in the plan-- ning stage of NorthPark- Houston, a big new center that will have more than 150 shops around four department store anchors. NorthPark-Houston will be a 73-acre part of Greens Crossing, a $910 million development at the intersection of Interstate 45 and North Belt that will include 4.2 million square feet of office space, two high-rise luxury hotels, 4,000 garden apartment and condominium units, and 300,000 square feet of service- distribution facilities. Friend swood Development Co., the land development subsidiary of Exxon Corp., is putting the pro ject together and picked the Raymond D. Nasher Co. to do the shopping center. Planning for the project, Nasher said, is based on the needs and requirements of con sumers, and what should be done to make the development more pleasing to consumers. Nasher’s many ideas on how new shopping centers should fit into the life of the consumer may make NorthPark-Houston the most customer-qriented shopping center in the world by the time it is opened in 1985. “It will be an entertainment and cultural center, which nor mally shopping centers have not been,” Nasher said. “Theater will be an important ingredient. In NorthPark we created the If you want to buy a townhome minutes from campus and the industrial park, priced from the 40s, with plenty of extras... You’ll want to visit Oak Creek. Getting to school or work doesn’t have to be a hassle. And when you live at Oak Creek, you could be there in only three minutes. We encourage you to relax. We give you all the benefits of home ownership without all the problems. Our townhomes offer protection from inflated housing costs, equity appreciation and tax deductions. Oak Creek gives you more than financial benefits. We offer plenty of extras like a swimming pool, whirlpool hot tub, fireplace, skylights and ceiling fans. And best yet, your weekends are not burdened with maintenance tasks. We have professionals who mow the lawn, clean the pool and keep the grounds. Oak Creek Townhomes. If hassle-free living sounds inviting, you’ll want to drive by. But don’t wait. At this price, with these extras, Oak Creek will sell soon. For Sales Information call Adelle Jones GRI/Broker 696-8888 ©aK CReeK “different spokes for ✓different folks” 403 University (Northgate) Open 10*7 Mon.-Fri. 10-5 Sat. 846-BIKE Dallas Repertory Theater. In Houston we should have not only a repertory theater, but I think it’s time to make a linkage and connection with the New York theater.” Nasher envisions stage shows opening in his NorthPark- Houston for tryout runs before they open on Broadway, much as they do now in Hartford and Boston. The center will also con tain movie theaters. In addition to theater, Nasher wants his new center to house a meeting hall for public forums and debates. He grew up in Bos ton and he recalls the role of that city’s Jordan Hall. “Every Sunday night there was either a speech or a debate between two of the great minds of the world,” he told an inter viewer. He believes in live enter tainment and thinks such live performances can add vitality to a shopping center. “There is still a heck of a lot of difference between seeing a play in New York in person or seeing TS-O Prescriptions Filled Glasses Repaired BRYAN 216 N. Main 799-2786 Mon.-Fri. 8-5 Sat. 8-1 COLLEGE STATION 8008 Post Oak Mall.. 764-0010 Mon.-Sat. 10-9 p.m. Texas State ® Optical k Since 1935. INTRODUCING TWO NEW SPECIAIHES OF THE HOUSE Wednesday Night LIVE ROCK-N-ROLL with the Wolmack Brothers Band Former warm up band for Journey Elvis Costello Dallas the only night club in town that gives away over $3,000 cash a month! Dallas night Club in the Duex Chene Complex Behind K-Mart, College Station 693-2818 a version of a play on the tube,” he said. “Or seeing a Henry Kis singer in a live debate with a Wil liam Buckley or someone.” Furthermore, Nasher be lieves debates and speeches given in his performance hall could be sent by cable television to other parts of the city. And closed-circuit screening facilities would exist to show audiences in NorthPark-Houston events going on elsewhere in the world. “We would have the type of staging and filming facilities so if Yves St. Laurent is having a showing in Paris, we could have a direct connection with that in NorthPark-Houston,” he said. If a performance at another theater or hall is sold out, Nasher said, it could be shown by closed circuit television at his facility. Nasher is planning three ex hibition areas in NorthPark- Houston. One would be for per manent display of museum- quality art. Another would be a greenhouse, offering shoppers a restful area amid flowers and trees. A third would be for changing exhibitions of almost anything that happens, whatev er is interesting. Nasher has strong feelings ab out the quality of service cus tomers get in retail establish ments. “We’ve defaulted on services, meaning the relationship be tween the customer and the clerk has evaporated,” Nasher said. He feels that, as merchan dising technology has ex panded, the old customer-first atmosphere of retailing has di minished. “One of the things we will say to tenants is that we would like you to explore with us, resear- chwise, on the education of em ployees,” he said. Nasher thinks research can be done on how to create a sense of rapport between clerks and shoppers. “We hope to get retailers to pi Right understand that this lisMlv kills i United I TALI. Al thing that we are NorthPark-Houston t being done at Galleriaot(J shopping centers),’’he a think very frankly thataltj major retailers are ideas.” To make shopping enJ NorthPark-Houston, will relieve customers of ihjjn for Wo den of carrying packapfter Mond stead, a delivery or comv je fifth tin tern will take package*! down throughout the cehterioil She refu tral pickup point. C»l can drive to this pointartP packages will be loadedii car. “Now, when you go i store and buy somethinj become a carrier,” NashtiJ If the purchase is largeem the customer will carry ini car. Once the customer the car, he or she maydtt go home rather than con shopping, Nasher said. United Harris K , , , . . , Jin Dor Nasher thinks the satM^ ext] veyor system can be u«L she par tenants to handle trash pa jiT m i|ij 0] Trash can he compactedN e ,| (0 y )( sent to a central pickuppf| eiv p r i z Nasher also is theallyofB shopper who avoids goitB"°™^ shopping centers becautB, parking problems. HeiiM ,lte ni | veloping an electronic ^ ; system that will direct eacl*! 11 ‘ the nearest available prNr 1 to 1 space. Traffic controllers™ 1 ^' in towers to oversee thepafjjShe was situation and the controls lottery also will provide constant | a y to pit ing lot security so customer* 000 their cars will be safe. Bkfortl “We’ll try to make ita:|<the nex where people won’t lose hubcaps,” he said. New ideas in internal are being develops now build into the center. “Most shopping center! Xerox copies of ones viously,” Nasher said. North Pa rk- Houston be. San Antonio gays plan panel, picnic United RUTLA’ :rhang< ire about jje, 12-pa ie fron rhangi *3.95 MONTEREY TACO SALAD Spicy ground beef, pinto beans, chile con queso, tortilla chips, lettuce, cheese, tomatoes and jalapeno peppers. Served with guacamole salad. MONTEREY CHICKEN SALAD Boneless chicken, chile con queso, tortilla chips, lettuce, cheese, tomatoes and jalapeno peppers. Served with guacamole salad. *3.45 DON’T MISS OUR WEDNESDAY SPECIALS MONTEREY DINNER *3.85 Reg. $4.85 FIESTA DINNER *3.45 United Press International SAN ANTONIO — Cay Pride Week will be observed by the city’s gay community for the first time, the San Antonio Gay Alliance has announced. However, officials of the group said Monday that the acti vities will include a panel discus sion and quiet picnic instead of marches like those in larger cities. In years past, San Antonio gays havejoined marches in Dal las and Houston, but decided this year that the number of ack nowledged homosexuals and lesbians in San Antonio is large enough to celebrate at home. Three thousand gays mar ched in Dallas Sunday and another march is planned in Houston this weekend to observe Gay Pride Week, com memorating three days of riot ing that broke out when a gay bar in New York was raided in 1969. “We’re very fortunate in San Nat Antonio that the gay coni' ’rack’ and fhe Rut IOFESSIOI SERVICE REPAIR is not officially and at oppressed by the govern! said Michael Stevens lishes a newsmagazine lot A large percentage ofthtj are single men stationed city’s five military bases, they are terrified of disci Toby Johnson of the Alliance said. Stevens said, however, more and more San A# I p gays are making thesis* 1 known, especially inthepitP Air G sional ranks. His newsmajjiil Brake publishes a list of busin , | Epgjr owned by gays, includisj^ estate and insurance offices 1 names several doctors intei in gay health care. 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