The City of Houston broke ground recently on the renovations and additions to the two-story, 19,080-square-foot building, located at 150 N. Chenevert, that will become the Houston Center for Sobriety.

“This building will be the culmination of a great public/private partnership that will not only help reduce the city’s financial burden for handling public intoxication cases, it will also ease crowding in our city jail and make our streets safer,” said Mayor Annise Parker. “We hope contractors will meet the benchmarks set for a grand opening by the end of 2012.”

The city’s annual cost to lease, maintain and staff the new center is estimated to be $1.5 million, compared to the $4-6 million currently being spent to process public intoxication cases at the city jail.

The Houston Center for Sobriety will be an alternative to jail for people detained for public intoxication, allowing the opportunity to regain sobriety in a safe, medically-monitored environment. The Houston Police Department, Houston Department of Health and Human Services and Houston Fire Department will provide city services at the site. In addition, the building will also house the Houston Police Department’s Mental Health Unit, bringing together staff dispersed throughout the city into one location.

A 501(c)3 foundation will also be created to aid in future fundraising for operations and possible future expansion.

In connection with its Brown Distinguished Lecture Series, the HBU School of Business will present The Leader’s Voice: A Conversation with David Weekley, featuring the chairman of David Weekley Homes, on Thursday, Oct. 4, at 6 p.m. in the Belin Chapel on the HBU campus. The event is free of charge and open to the public.

Weekly, an avid student of progressive management methodologies that make people the primary focus of an organization, was named National Association of Homebuilders’ Builder of the Year in 1986 and Inc. Magazine Houston Entrepreneur of the Year in 1989. David Weekley Homes has been recognized by Inc. Magazine as one of America’s 500 Fastest Growing Companies twice since 1976 and has made FORTUNE magazine’s list of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” seven times.

The Brown Foundation Inc. established the Herman Brown Endowed Chair of Business and Economics at HBU in 1972. Since that time, the Herman Brown Endowed Chair, and associated activities including the Brown Distinguished Lecture, has enriched the academic life of the University and the resources of the Houston business community.

Houston Baptist University is an independent, private Christian liberal arts institution with a diverse student body. The University is dedicated to the development of the intellect, the moral character and the spiritual lives of its students. It has access to all the cultural advantages of one of the largest metropolitan centers in the country. For more information about the University, visit www.hbu.edu.

Cutting the ceremonial ribbon in 1987, Dominique de Menil opened the doors to the museum that bears the family name with these welcoming words, “Houston, this is your museum.”

That auspicious occasion also marked the completion of the first U.S. building by the acclaimed Italian architect Renzo Piano, who designed, with his client, a home for art, free of charge and open to all.

On Saturday, Sept. 22 the Menil Collection will celebrate its 25th birthday with a free neighborhood party. Festivities begin at 3 p.m., with a promenade performance by the legendary, award- winning Kashmere Reunion Stage Band and continue with the renowned TSU Jazz Ensemble. Each band will perform their own distinctive version of Happy Birthday! The outdoor festivities continue with improvisational jazz dancing on the lawn and a scavenger hunt for children.

Houston City Council Member Ellen Cohen will present a Mayor’s Proclamation honoring the Menil to museum director Josef Helfenstein.

Party goers should bring  a picnic blanket and enjoy the music, dancing, treasure hunt − and of course, birthday cake and ice cream – until the final notes (and birthday candles) are blown out at 6 p.m.

Housing a world of art from the prehistoric era to modern day, the still- growing Menil Collection began as the private art collection of Houston philanthropists John and Dominique de Menil. From war-torn Europe, the de Menils arrived in their adopted city in 1941. Long before John’s death in 1973, they began planning a museum that would hold their dynamic collection of art, in spare, light-filled galleries (a building not unlike their welcoming, Modernist home) and embody their ideas about art as an essential part of life that should be made available all to experience.