Pam Brink
(All Photos by Sarah Self-Walbrick)
Pam Brink, president of the Lubbock Heritage Society, and several concerned citizens gathered in the Cafe J parking lot on Tuesday to announce to the media their campaign to “Save the Godbold.”
“As we understand it, the Godbold Center is in the process of being sold to Clayton Isom, who has indicated he is considering building a high rise hotel on the land,” Brink said.
After a story published by The Hub@TTU in late January, Lubbock residents learned that Isom was in the final stages of purchasing the complex, which sits on 19th Street across from Texas Tech University near University Avenue on the edge of the Tech Terrace neighborhood.
The Hub reported that rumors were circulating that after completing the purchase Isom planned to demolish the existing structure to build a high-rise hotel.
Isom told The Hub in January that he is in the process of buying the land, but said he is just “considering” building a high-rise hotel there.
“I mean, obviously, we are in the hotel business, and so that’s, you know, naturally one of the things we are going to consider,” Isom said, “but there are quite a few years left on the leases put in place.”
“As part of the Save the Godbold campaign,” Brink said as she stood in front of 20-plus citizens holding yellow yard signs, “the Lubbock Heritage Society urges Mr. Isom to preserve and renovate this historic structure as an elemental part of Lubbock history and of his redevelopment plans.”
In a document obtained by the Hub, an application was filled in 1985, while the University City Club resided in the location, with the Texas Historical Commission to become a Recorded Texas Historical Landmark, which gives protections to a site and requires it retain its basic historical integrity.
The building complex was determined ineligible to be listed by the Texas Historical Commission, according to a source who works for the commission.
The original structure was built in 1937 for the Plains Hospital and Clinic, according to the Texas Historical Association. The building was renovated and expanded over the years to its current size.
The complex served as a hotel in the 70’s and later hosted the University City Club until it closed its doors in 1989, according to the campaign’s website.
The complex currently houses Cafe J restaurant and Chrome, a boutique retail store.
Brink, the only person to speak during the five-minute press conference, said the Lubbock Heritage Society thanked Carlton M. Godbold for his safekeeping of the complex since the opening of the Godbold Cultural Center in 1994.
“We would like to feel confident that the new owner will follow his example,” said Brink, standing next to a card table covered with yellow bumper-stickers, flyers and buttons that read “Save the GODBOLD!”
The cultural center closed six years later in 2000, according to an AJ Media article published in Aug., 2000.
The Hub reached out to Clayton Isom, but he did not immediately respond to phone calls. Isom and his investment group own the problem-plagued Raider Park parking garage as well as several hotels, including one in San Antonio that filed for bankruptcy in 2011. Isom also sits on the city’s Electric Utility Board.
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