Thursday, Jul. 03, 2008
Gaylord Soothes Neighborhood Fears, But Plans for ICE! Nearby Get Chill Response
Grapevine residents said Tuesday evening at a Grapevine City Council workshop meeting that they were generally pleased that the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center was making efforts to reduce noise and lights into the neighborhood.
But residents said they were shocked to learn that along with a pool facility, the Gaylord Texan would put a cement pad site across the street from residents to use for the hotelfs annual ICE! sculpture event.
gThe plans on the ICE! were totally out of the blue for me,h said Art Brown, who has lived on Silverside Drive for 28 years with his wife, Gail.
Brown said he was pleased with Gaylordfs efforts to reduce light and noise, such as from the hotelfs Glass Cactus nightclub, but he did not want ICE! across the street from his home.
Mike Morris, president of the Northeast Neighborhood Association in Grapevine, said no one had any advance notice about the ICE! plans.
Gaylord Hotels had about 10 representatives at the workshop meeting, and about eight residents who live near the Gaylord Texan attended.
Each year Gaylord set up a refrigerated tent and brings in ice sculptors from China to create sculptures out of large blocks of ice. The public is able to pay to view the sculptures from mid-November until mid-January. John Imaizumi, general manager of the Gaylord Texan, said the tent for ICE! would actually be up from August through January.
Earlier this year, the Gaylord Texan received approval from the Grapevine City Council to expand the 1,500-room hotel that has 350,000 square feet of meeting space. Plans include the addition of a 12-story tower with 500 more rooms along with approximately 200,000 more square feet added to the facilityfs 350,000 square foot convention center. Two levels will also be added to the existing four-story parking garage.
Now Gaylord plans to seek approval for an outdoor swimming pool with waterfalls that can accommodate about 600 people and the ICE! facility.
Imaizumi said the general public will be able to pay to get into the pool, but they have not decided on a ticket price.
gThere could be live entertainment at the pool, not to be above 52 decibels,h he said about the music.
Imaizumi said there could be live entertainment at the ICE! facility also.
gIt could have entertainment, but that would be a secondary use to ICE!,h he said.
Shaw Flippen, Gaylord Hotels executive project director, said the pool, which will include a food and beverage facility, will span Army Corps of Engineers property as well as land that Gaylord owns.
gOur reaction to the pool plan is very positive,h said Grapevine City Manager Bruno Rumbelow.
Gaylord officials said they plan to hold a meeting with residents in the near future.
Gaylord Notes Progress The Grapevine City Council will hold a public hearing on the plans for a pool and the ICE! facility on Aug. 19. Flippen said the Gaylord Texan agreed to do five things, and three of those have been completed:
A mesh fabric had been installed along the hand rails at the Glass Cactus parking lot to block vehicle headlights.
Landscaping has been installed as a light barrier near the Glass Cactus.
Light fixtures on the back side of the hotel have been redirected downward to minimize light pollution in the neighborhood.
When the parking garage is completed this fall, Flippen said screening would be installed around the garage to block headlights and that walls will be constructed along the backside of the hotel, including a 30-foot wall to block noise from the cooling tower. Patrick Saussus, with WJHW Acoustical Consultants, said he performed a sound study for Gaylord from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. on a Saturday night at a boat dock 220 feet from the Glass Cactus. He said at no time did the noise violate the cityfs noise ordinance.
Nearby residents said the biggest noise nuisance are from people using their remote controls for their car alarms to find their cars in the parking lot.
Grapevine officials said the Gaylord Texan agreed to submit a sound study as part of their expansion plans, and that study is expected to be submitted to a project review committee this month.
Other Action The council approved joining the Council for Local Environmental Initiatives that requires dues of $600 a year. The organization was founded in 1990 to help local governments around the world reduce energy usage and carbon emissions.
gBy joining this we become a national and international network of peers,h said Matt Singleton, Grapevine Public Works director.
Singleton said the city has already been making efforts to reduce energy usage and carbon emissions through purchasing hybrid and alternative-fuel vehicles, reducing city fleet size and having an anti-idling policy. City personnel will also get training and software to conduct a carbon footprint study and find ways to reduce emissions.
Singleton said the program is expected to reduce energy usage save money and help improve air quality in the Metroplex, which currently does not meet federal government standards for ozone.
Print
E-Mail
