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- Historic DeLuxe Theatre on Lyons Avenue.
- Fifth Ward Jam, an art installation created by Dan Havel and Dean Ruck.
- Fifth Ward Jam, an art installation created by Dan Havel and Dean Ruck.
- True Level Masonic Lodge on Lyons near Waco Street.
- True Level Lodge is near the route of this weekend's Sunday Streets.
- Mural on Lyons Avenue at Gregg Street.
- Mural on Lyons Avenue at Gregg Street.
- Mural on Lyons Avenue near U.S. 59.
- Detail of Lyons Avenue mural.
- Streetscape along Lyons Avenue in the Fifth Ward.
- Old signage along Lyons Avenue in Houston's Fifth Ward.
- Old Louis White grocery store on Lyons Avenue.
- Kathy Flanagan Payton, President of the Fifth Ward Community Redevelopment Corporation.
- Latter Day Deliverance Church on Lyons at Benson.
For many years, the old DeLuxe Theatre stood dilapidated in in the middle of Houston's Fifth Ward. Now it's meticulously restored as the centerpiece of the historic neighborhood.
Under its Art Deco marquee we meet Kathy Flanagan Payton. She was born in the neighborhood and she now heads the Fifth Ward Community Redevelopment Corporation.
"We have a bad history of being the toughest, baddest ghetto in Texas," says Payton. "We're tough, we're bad, but in a different kind of way. What you'll find here is a strong sense of family, a strong sense of community spirit."
The Fifth Ward has been around since the mid-1800's but it suffered a period of decline after it was split apart by freeway construction in the 1960's.
Today there's new interest in the neighborhood, and Payton says they're working to balance development with the needs of longtime residents. She says new money can bring in things they don't have right now, like a supermarket.
"We have to have more rooftops," explains Flanagan. With rooftops come people. When people come, pockets. The pockets that live here today cannot support these amenities. And so our goal is to find a balance."
Also involved in the neighborhood is Reverend Harvey Clemons Jr. of the Pleasant Hill Baptist Church. He says the Fifth Ward's renewal isn't just about buildings.
"But the attitude, the level of awareness of the community, the diversity of the community, and just a sense of consciousness about community duty and responsibility," adds Clemons.
Hours for this weekend's Sunday Streets are noon to 4:00 PM. Lyons Avenue will be closed to vehicular traffic between U.S. 59 and Benson Street.
