If you follow me on snapchat you saw that I toured Houston's Cistern over the weekend. Named the Cistern for his resemblance to ancient Roman Cisterns in Istanbul, the Houston Cistern was originally Houston's underground drinking reservoir. It was built back in 1927 and was closed in 2007 after it was found to have an undetectable leak. The cost to repair/find the leak was not comparable to our modern day usage output capability so the city decided to close the reservoir completely. After a survey of the space, generous donors put together a plan to renovate and repurpose what is now known as the Houston Cistern. After seeing this damn Cistern was popping up on travel blogs not HTX based, I decided to pay $2 and see what this thing was really about.
The tour is constantly sold out but you can try to get tickets
here. Its about 30 minutes long and we learned a ton of water facts that are mostly useless but very interesting. Back in the day when the cistern was Houston's only water usage there was a point where the water was deemed unsuitable for use by anyone, including the fire dept. The cistern did not only supply drinking water but was also very important to the HFD. The government knew for a while that the water wasn't always good to drink but they let it slide... proving the government has always made poor decisions regarding public safety.
We had really awesome high quality images that got lost when our SD card reformatted... switching from sony to cannon cameras is apparently a no-no. It corrupts all of the images. To see this beauty, you might have to pay 2 dollars for a tour... It's also free on Thursdays, but reservations are required.
They will be holding tours in its current state for a few more months and then it will undergo an awesome transformation. The city will be transforming the space into a light and sound themed exhibit. They hope to have it together by the Superbowl. I can't wait to go back again once the installation is complete. It's a beautiful must see literally underneath the heart of Houston.
LOVE, MARA
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