Help needed identifying downtown Austin location!!

[RedShirtPictures]

Hello,

I am hoping you can help me on this, or perhaps point me in the direction of someone who can.


We've been constructing a short documentary piece on the various shooting locations for the film, THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2 which was shot in Austin back in 1986. We have found pretty much everything out there that is still remaining (in one form or another).

However there is one location that eludes us, still. It's the place where a Chili Cookoff scene was filmed.

We've gotten several crew members' input on where this was shot, but nothing seems to line up and everyone seems to remember it differently. The locations manager remembers it as One American Center (which we visited in person and couldn't find anything there that fit at all), while others seem to think it might have been a hotel lobby in the downtown area. The Art Director said it was a bank building near 7th and Brazos, and the Production Designer remembers the crew trucks being parked along Congress.

Also, I just received info from the Property Master for the film that it was definitely a hotel somewhere on Congress, which would narrow it down to the Stephen F. Austin or Driskill hotels, but neither of them seem to have anything close to the architecture or layout seen in the movie.

Obviously a lot can change in thirty years, but I gotta believe this location still exists somewhere in downtown Austin.

There are some screenshots from the movie below, if you are willing to help. I'm hoping you might recognize something there that helps me on my search.

Any information you can provide would be very helpful.

Thanks!

Michael Felsher
mfelsher@redshirtpictures.com


All of the following images courtesy of MGM Home Video
©1986 Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/64017224/screenshot1.jpg

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/64017224/screenshot2.jpg

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/64017224/screenshot3.jpg

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/64017224/screenshot4.jpg

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/64017224/screenshot5.jpg

[The ATX]

Have you tried contacting the guy that runs www.texaschainsawmassacre.net? Leave a comment on his Facebook page. He is pretty quick to respond to such things.

[Homecreek]

Still working on this but in the fourth picture the building in the skylight looks like 823 congress.

[RedShirtPictures]

Have you tried contacting the guy that runs www.texaschainsawmassacre.net? Leave a comment on his Facebook page. He is pretty quick to respond to such things.

Actually, yes, I've know Tim who runs that site for years. He didn't know either.

[MichaelB]

On FB find "leatherface". The actor who played original "Leatherface" is Bill Johnson. Just friend him and ask him what you need . I've worked with him. Nice man who enjoys still appearing as the character.
If he thinks this is cool.... he'll probably help you.

[RedShirtPictures]

On FB find "leatherface". The actor who played original "Leatherface" is Bill Johnson. Just friend him and ask him what you need . I've worked with him. Nice man who enjoys still appearing as the character.
If he thinks this is cool.... he'll probably help you.


Hey! Actually I've known Bill for years, and he is a great guy. Sadly though he was not on set for that scene.

I've asked several of the cast & crew who were there, and again its just amazing how no two people seem to recall the same location or details.

[KevinFromTexas]

Still working on this but in the fourth picture the building in the skylight looks like 823 congress.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/64017224/screenshot4.jpg

That's what I was thinking. The only high rise of that color in downtown that has a column on the corner of the building with a balcony, so that you can see through it, is 823 Congress. So then you've got to go looking around 823 Congress within a block or so to look for buildings with skylights.

I was also considering the angles. Whatever building they're in, if that is indeed 823 Congress in the background, and I think it is, then it's probably on the same block that 823 Congress is. There's one building on Congress near there with skylights, but it's across the street and diagonal to 823 Congress, and while it has those vaulted skylights like this one, the angle is wrong because from that angle you wouldn't see any sunlight coming through the corner of 823 Congress because you'd be looking almost dead on at the corner. That address is 710 Congress.

I don't think it's north of 823 Congress either because that would put the building to the left of the frame, where as in the screenshot, it's on the right.

I think the photo was taken south of 823 Congress on the same block. My best guess would be one of the old 2 and 3-story brick/stone buildings on Congress in the 801 block (east side of Congress).

This 3-story building on the corner at 801 Congress, it doesn't have a skylight, though, I suppose it might have had at one time. I'm thinking the photo was taken in one of the other buildings on the block - north of it, between it and 823 Congress. None of those buildings currently have skylights, but two of them have had major renovations done since the 1980s. Two of them even had 3rd floors added in the last decade. Those two buildings today are retail on the ground floor I believe, and there is residential space on the upper floor(s).

https://www.google.com/maps/place/801+congress+austin/@30.2699282,-97.7421366,3a,90y,82.88h,93.95t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sYCup_a7GGya7o55RTh--0w!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x5139738e20ebca7b!6m1!1e1

I would check each of these buildings. There are no skylights in them, but I believe this is where the photo was taken, in one of these.

http://i.imgur.com/AfhjQ9K.jpg

I used Google Earth to "hover" over those buildings and look up at 823 Congress. The movie screenshot also shows what appears to be a pretty small space. I don't get the feeling that it is a hotel lobby. They seem to be in a pretty small room. I don't think it's farther south of here either, because south of gere is the State and Paramount Theatres, and obviously neither of them have skylights. And it can't be southeast of there either, because taller buildings would block the view.

http://i.imgur.com/bBG58wp.jpg

[KevinFromTexas]

By the way, luckily enough I found a clip of this scene on Youtube.

69vnGfCH4TU

[MichaelB]

Hey! Actually I've known Bill for years, and he is a great guy. Sadly though he was not on set for that scene.

I've asked several of the cast & crew who were there, and again its just amazing how no two people seem to recall the same location or details.

Well darn!

Hope you find what you need!

[RedShirtPictures]

Thanks everyone so far for their help...haven't found it yet, but I feel like we are close. Please pass this posting along to anyone out there you think might have a clue.

[The ATX]

What are those nine white squares on top of that lowest building next to 823? Could they be covering up skylights? If one was standing underneath them and looking West-Southwest the side/corner of 823 would appear as it does in the second photo.

http://i.imgur.com/AfhjQ9K.jpg
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/64017224/screenshot4.jpg

[KevinFromTexas]

What are those nine white squares on top of that lowest building next to 823? Could they be covering up skylights? If one was standing underneath them and looking West-Southwest the side/corner of 823 would appear as it does in the second photo.

http://i.imgur.com/AfhjQ9K.jpg
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/64017224/screenshot4.jpg

That's certainly a possibility. That's Brazos Place now, but back then it would have been 800 Brazos - an office building. Before that it was a hotel going back to 1948. The building was renovated in 1984. I believe that's when it became an office building.

I did find this. This is a photo of the lobby of Brazos Place. I believe this is showing the skylight that shows up on Google Earth (the 9 white boxes).

This does look somewhat similar to the movie screenshot.

https://fe888f8c15a52b0318f9-bb97d03219b0cd2db2d792bb68cdf485.ssl.cf5.rackcdn.com/9846791-rental-5bxopv-l.jpg

Source link for that photo.
http://www.austinreferralrealty.com/listing/9846791-800-brazos-st-1102-austin-tx-78701/

69vnGfCH4TU

[RedShirtPictures]

Yknow I came across 800 Brazos before, and after reviewing a few other shots of the lobby area, I just don't think that's it. There's too many structural differences, and I don't know if that skylight in the movie screenshot is really that big. It may have only been a small line of three sections. Also nothing in the 800 Brazos building comes close to matching any of the other areas in the other shots.

I really do appreciate the great detective work going on here though...I feel like we're really close.

[SecretAgentMan]

I think that 9 square grid is actually part of 823 Congress and not 800 Brazos, because it appears to be west of the alley. The interior is vaguely familiar to me, but I can't quite place it.

[KevinFromTexas]

I think that 9 square grid is actually part of 823 Congress and not 800 Brazos, because it appears to be west of the alley. The interior is vaguely familiar to me, but I can't quite place it.

I see what you're talking about, the 9 small skylights in the corner of 823 Congress. That is part of 823 Congress, but we're talking about the 9 large skylights in the lower right. If you look on Google Earth, they're on the roof of the west wing of Brazos Place. You can see them in the Google Earth screenshot I made at the center bottom of the image.

[KevinFromTexas]

You know, the other possibility is that what we're seeing in that movie screenshot is actually a concrete skeleton of a high rise that is under construction.

[The ATX]

I think that 9 square grid is actually part of 823 Congress and not 800 Brazos, because it appears to be west of the alley. The interior is vaguely familiar to me, but I can't quite place it.

Those were the ones I was referring too. I don't think the other ones that Kevin was referring to are the right distance/angle to match the movie still. Maybe we should consider areas near U/C highrises in 1986. There can't be too many that were around the height indicated in the skylight scene.

[The ATX]

Possible U/C candidates for the time frame of the filming would include:

100 Congress
San Jacinto Center
One Congress
Austin Centre/Omni Hotel
Capitol Tower
Clements State Office Building

The Raddison hotel (which I think was still a Sheraton Crest at that time) has been remodeled and expanded since then, but it seems to meet some of the criteria. It's on Congress, it's a hotel, and two of the buildings on the above list of U/C buildings were across a street from it. But the skylight is a problem.

[The ATX]

As an aside, there was an apparent search for the location shown on this old Neil Young album cover. It turned out to be Austin, and the Sheraton Crest was the big clue.

http://www.4waysite.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/ThisNotes.jpg
http://www.4waysite.com/everything-csny/famous-places/

[RedShirtPictures]

UPDATED INFORMATION:

Ok everyone, there's been some information today which could help clear this up.

Spoke with the film's Director of Photography today, and he remembered the location immediately stating this, which is also something that the Art Director previously told me.

The filming of this scene took place in a bank building lobby. It was on the West Side of Congress.

So that means we need to identify any bank buildings that were in existence on Congress (on the west side of the street) in around April of 1986.

Factors to keep in mind:

1. This building may still be a bank, but certainly not the same bank (whatever it was) back in 1986.

2. This building is likely somewhere near 823 Congress, assuming that actually is 823 Congress in that one screen shot, and not another building under construction.

3. There's also the possibility that this bank building could have been demo'd and rebuilt since that time. A lot can change in 30 years, so finding out definitively what was a bank building in 1986 is really key here.


Any ideas, anyone?

[The ATX]

I think it's 823 rather than an U/C building. But there is no building currently on the west side of Congress with skylights and the proper orientation to 823. So this will not be easy. We need someone with good memories of the '80s. :)

[The ATX]

816 Congress which is directly across the street was originally built in 1984 as a now defunct bank called First City Center. First City was remodeled/rebuilt into 816 Congress in 1994. The view of 823 from any skylights in a lobby for First City would correspond to the view in the film.

Here's a link to a Fed website with a notice about the failed bank:
http://www.ffiec.gov/nicpubweb/nicweb/InstitutionProfile.aspx?parID_Rssd=7353&parDT_END=19890330

[The ATX]

This odd courtyard in front of 816 Congress would have been a good place for a lobby with skylights. But I haven't found any old photos of First City Center to verify that.

Where's LoneStarMike at? He's good at figuring out this stuff.

http://i1121.photobucket.com/albums/l511/ihatethisplacenothingworks/816%20Congress.png

[drummer]

I haven't seen him in a while. He would definitely be the one to research it.

[KevinFromTexas]

So a few things. 816 Congress had a major renovation in 1994. They didn't just change the facade material, which changed the color, they also expanded the top 6 floors. They actually built new exterior walls onto the north setback running through the middle of the block. They also added new mechanical screens and parapets around the upper setbacks. And, they also built a new bank lobby inside of a 2-story podium running half the length of the building's Congress facing facade. It replaced part of the building's plaza. On the other half they built a terrace running the perimeter of the facade that encloses what's left of the plaza. Since those changes were made in 1994, that probably eliminates 816 Congress as a candidate for the bank lobby idea. And the building doesn't have a skylight anywhere either.

Something else we know is that there weren't any high rises built on Congress between 1987 and 2001, so it's unlikely that anything was torn down for something new and big on Congress after that scene was filmed. 100 Congress was finished in 1987 and took about 2 years to build. The Frost Bank Tower started in 2001 and finished in 2004. There also weren't many new low rise buildings built on Congress after 1986 either. There have only been two of them. The Texas Public Policy Foundation, which wrapped up construction earlier this year, and the office building at 1001 Congress. I don't believe either of those would offer a view of 816 Congress's construction with the angle scene in the movie clip.

So I'm still not sure what to think.

By the way, this is a very cool source for old satellite images.

http://www.historicaerials.com/aerials.php?op=home

[The ATX]

So a few things. 816 Congress had a major renovation in 1994. They didn't just change the facade material, which changed the color, they also expanded the top 6 floors. They actually built new exterior walls onto the north setback running through the middle of the block. They also added new mechanical screens and parapets around the upper setbacks. And, they also built a new bank lobby inside of a 2-story podium running half the length of the building's Congress facing facade. It replaced part of the building's plaza. On the other half they built a terrace running the perimeter of the facade that encloses what's left of the plaza. Since those changes were made in 1994, that probably eliminates 816 Congress as a candidate for the bank lobby idea. And the building doesn't have a skylight anywhere either.

Something else we know is that there weren't any high rises built on Congress between 1987 and 2001, so it's unlikely that anything was torn down for something new and big on Congress after that scene was filmed. 100 Congress was finished in 1987 and took about 2 years to build. The Frost Bank Tower started in 2001 and finished in 2004. There also weren't many new low rise buildings built on Congress after 1986 either. There have only been two of them. The Texas Public Policy Foundation, which wrapped up construction earlier this year, and the office building at 1001 Congress. I don't believe either of those would offer a view of 816 Congress's construction with the angle scene in the movie clip.

So I'm still not sure what to think.

By the way, this is a very cool source for old satellite images.

http://www.historicaerials.com/aerials.php?op=home

I'm confused by your post. The movie was filmed in 1986, so it only matters what First City Center was like back then. It doesn't matter what happened in 1994 when it became 816 Congress. :shrug:

[KevinFromTexas]

I thought we were theorizing about a skylight in a bank lobby at 816 Congress. The point is, the Congress facade of the building was very different from what we see today. Back then there was no podium fronting Congress where a skylight could be since it hadn't been built yet. The plaza ran the full length of the building's Congress facade, and that's where the new bank lobby was built. The original bank lobby was inside the tower, not a low podium closer to the street.

[The ATX]

I thought we were theorizing about a skylight in a bank lobby at 816 Congress. The point is, the Congress facade of the building was very different from what we see today. Back then there was no podium fronting Congress where a skylight could be since it hadn't been built yet. The plaza ran the full length of the building's Congress facade, and that's where the new bank lobby was built. The original bank lobby was inside the tower, not a low podium closer to the street.

OK. So that scene could have been filmed inside First City Center because there were skylights.

[KevinFromTexas]

No, I don't think there were any skylights in 816 Congress. I don't think there was any place where they could be, and I'm going off of old satellite images even.

I also don't think it's 100 Congress because of the setbacks and stepbacks.

Same for One Congress Plaza. Too many setbacks, plus the funky diagonal nature of the building, and lack of buildings around it that could have had a skylight.

San Jacinto Center is kind of the same situation, plus the angles wouldn't be right from any potential skylights anyway.

I don't think it's the Omni either, because there are no buildings around there that have or have had skylights, and there are tall enough buildings around it that if the skylight was farther away those buildings would have been in the way.

I don't think it could have been the Capitol Tower either, because it's surrounded by multi-storied boxy old buildings that I'm sure didn't have skylights, and most of them are uses that wouldn't have included a bank.

By the way, the Four Seasons Hotel was finished in 1987, but again, like One Congress Plaza and San Jacinto center which are close by, I don't think there are any nearby skylights. And the Four Seasons isn't very tall anyway.

I also doubt it's the Clements office building, because there aren't any skylights around there.

One building, though, that I did think about is the Doubletree Hotel 15th & Guadalupe. It was finished in 1987, which means it would have been under construction in 1986. I've never seen a photo of it under construction, but it is tall enough to be seen from some distance, and it doesn't have any funky setbacks. And...there is a building across the alley from it to the south on the same block with a skylight smack dab in the middle of the building. It is possible that you could look through that skylight and see the Doubletree. The only reservation I have about this location is the Wells Fargo Tower in the background may or may not be visible from there, too, and it pre-dates 1986 of course. And the Texas Medical Association's office building is west of the Doubletree Hotel, but it was built until 1991, so it wouldn't have been there. The building is the Texas Restaurant Association in the Google maps, but I think they've moved since those images were taken.

[The ATX]

RedShirt's last post indicated that the location was definitely on the west side of Congress. Since the building in the skylight pretty much has to be 823, I give up.
Anyway, I remember when the movie was being filmed here and saw it at the theater. I also remember that abandoned amusement park and thought it was a pretty cool location to film.

[Homecreek]

I think 816 is more plausible because if you look behind everyone in the main shot, it looks like there is a wall of windows and you can see trees. That plus the angle of the sunlight coming through skylight makes the it the best suspect.

[KevinFromTexas]

One easy solution would be to visit Brazos Place and look through the skylight in the lobby.

It might confuse the heck out of the people at the front desk. Just walk in, look through the skylight, and walk out.

[RedShirtPictures]

The Art Director remembered the location as the lobby of the Texas Commerce Bank building in downtown.

Does anyone remember where that was?

[KevinFromTexas]

The Art Director remembered the location as the lobby of the Texas Commerce Bank building in downtown.

Does anyone remember where that was?

A few years back we started a thread on a list of former building names.

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=145105&highlight=building+names

If you scroll down the list, the only Texas Commerce Bank I see - at least in a high rise, is 700 Lavaca. The building mostly housed banks through the years. A couple of years ago Travis County purchased the building. I doubt the interior has changed much since the outside hasn't. Since it's a public building now, you'll probably have easy access to it.

I still don't see a skylight anywhere, but there is a podium around the building, so it's possible there may have been one. As for the high rise that was visible outside through the skylight, there isn't one around 700 Lavaca to match the one in the movie clip, but there is a parking garage across the street that might just be it.

[AusTxDevelopment]

The Scarbrough building had a bank in it's Congress-facing lobby in the 1980s, where Brooks Bros is now. The bank's name began with a W - Winchester, Westinghouse, Winthorp, something like that. They closed and that bank space sat empty for years. I worked in the building in the 1990s and remember that you could see the empty space through the windows - there was a really cool vault door that looked golden but was actually clad in brass. Forest green carpet. Cobwebs. Ha. Eventually ABC Bank leased the space, remodeled it and opened their first Austin location there in the late 1990s. When they moved out, the Scarbrough building gutted it and turned it into office space, then retail. There are skylights on the department store side of the building (which includes the old bank space), but I don't remember if any of those reached the bank space. I do know that there is a basement level that the skylights reach down to. I think the basement is coworking space now, or maybe a gym? I haven't been by there in a while.

[The ATX]

It seems that everyone who was connected to the movie has different recollections, and there are little to no corroborating memories to pin down a more specific location. Does the director Tobe Hooper know?

[Mikey711MN]

Is it remotely possible that we're looking at 816 Congress from further south...?

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/64017224/screenshot4.jpg

I tried to capture a similar angle with a very similar skylight in the foreground...

http://i.imgur.com/Yf6y54T.png

In such a case, we're also seeing fairly early morning shadows, i.e. sun shining in from the right in the movie. If the bank was still operating, I would think I'd prefer to maintain business hours...

Just some thoughts. Interesting thread!

[KevinFromTexas]

^The movie was shot in 1986. 816 Congress is listed as being finished in 1984 on multiple real estate pages. I actually think it was a bit earlier than that, though. One source said 1983, and even that seems too late. The reason is I've seen photos of 816 Congress wrapping up construction in what was supposedly 1984, but the One American Center wasn't anywhere to be seen in the photo, and it was definitely finished in 1984 since all the construction documents I've seen for it show that. So by 1986 816 Congress would have been long completed, so you shouldn't have been able to see light coming through the corner like that.