In The News

Movers and shakers: The Galveston Chamber of Commerce plans a March move to the first floor of the 1873 Washington Building, 2228 Mechanic St., in the island’s downtown. Mitchell Historic Properties owns the building, formerly occupied by New York Dress Outlet, which did not return after Hurricane Ike struck in 2008. Along with housing staff, the 4,000-square-foot space also will serve as a visitor center and offer a conference room for meetings and small business seminars.

George Mitchell, an iconic Houston real estate developer and oil and gas industry innovator, was named on Foreign Policy magazine’s list of the top 100 global thinkers.

The city council will convene a workshop meeting Monday on charter amendments that could include discussions about the sale of 16 acres of Port of Galveston property on piers 19-22. But no one invited port officials, who said they didn’t know about the meeting until contacted Thursday by The Daily News.

After Thanksgiving, when thousands of people were lining up at area big box stores for flat-screen TVs and Disney dolls during the traditional launch of the Christmas shopping season, James Fulbright was readying his island surf shop for what he and other small-business owners hope will be their version of Black Friday.

If billionaire developer George Mitchell succeeds in buying piers 19-22 from the city, his island company will invest $25 million in improvements to the tourist area, including building as many as 80 condominium units, expanding the Harbor House hotel at Pier 21 and adding a boardwalk and more than 50 boat slips.

Billionaire developer George Mitchell is seeking a charter amendment allowing his island company to buy publicly owned Port of Galveston property at piers 19-22, a move that would require voter approval.

The designer of the new Haunted Mayfield Manor in Galveston follows a simple formula — scare forward, high startle, low gore. “We try to make people afraid to stay where they are, vs. being afraid to go forward,” said Leonard Pickel, an Orlando businessman known as “the godfather of haunting.” Pickel took a design he created in 1992, wove in details of the aftermath of the 1900 Storm and fashioned a set where live actors and high-tech gadgetry make for an adrenaline rush. Don’t expect typical Halloween gore when you step into the manor in the 1885 Butterowe Building, 23rd Street and The Strand.

Very scary: Count a new year-round haunted house among downtown tourist attractions. Island businesswoman Joyce McLean, who also owns shoe and apparel shop Head to Footsies, 2211 The Strand, launched Haunted Mayfield Manor last week in the 1885 Butterowe Building off Saengerfest Park (23rd Street and The Strand.)

Haunted Mayfield Manor uses fictional character of doctor during the 1900 Storm as basis for permanent haunted house which is scheduled to open in October. The attraction will be in the same building as Pirates! Legends of the Gulf Coast which is opening in November.