FEBRUARY 2013
An article on our project by Allyn West written for Swamplot
AN EMAIL BLAST ABOUT OUR PROJECT BY PRESERVATION HOUSTON
Good Brick Award recipients purchase historic grocery building
Swamplot has reported that Good Brick Award winners Bennie Flores Ansell and David Ansell have purchased the historic Zax Grocery Store, 2020 Hardy Street, in the Near North Side and plan to restore the building with commercial space on the first floor and apartments on the second. Another Good Brick recipient, Joe Meppelink, is the architect for the project.
The late Victorian commercial building had stood vacant for several years when the heirs of the previous owner spoke with Preservation Houston in 2012 looking for a buyer for the property, which their real estate agent was marketing as a teardown. Preservation Houston sent information about the building to potential investors with experience in renovations and restorations.
The Ansells purchased the property last month and have started a website, 2020hardy.com, posting progress reports and displaying some of the items they found while cleaning out the building. The couple received a Good Brick in 2011 for the sympathetic addition to their house in the Old Sixth Ward Historic District.
Zax Grocery Store (c. 1902)
Photo by David Bush
Greater Houston Preservation Alliance dba Preservation Houston.
Preservation Houston is supported in part by a grant from the City of Houston
through the Houston Arts Alliance.
2020hardy 
Greetings:
I noticed that your progress posts end in June 2013. I was wondering what progress has been made since. Can you post images? Is the project still on track? I posted your website link at the Houston History Facebook page here:https://www.facebook.com/groups/houstonhistory/585472108180943/?notif_t=like Many of us are curious.
Hello Alex,
Thank you for your interest in our project! The heat of the summer kept us away from making any progress on the building. Now that fall is setting in we are getting ready to start up again, so stay tuned for more images as they come available.
Best,
Bennie
Thanks for posting the blog to the Houston History facebook page!
Greetings:
I noticed that your progress images end in June and was wondering what the progress was. Can you post current images? Or comment? I posted a link to your website at Houston History’s Facebook page, of which I am a member. https://www.facebook.com/groups/houstonhistory/585472108180943/?notif_t=like Many of us are curious.
Kind regards,
A. Colvin
Hello, we just discovered your project, bravo for saving the building! I am involved in rescuing goods from the Shudde Brothers Hat Company on Trinity Street, I wish I had known of your project as well! Do you know if there were any old Fluorescent light fixtures in the building from the 1940’s/ 1950’s? I will come see your progress as soon as possible, Chris