Welcome to the second edition of Fort Worth Friday.
One of the things I love about Fort Worth is that there's so much history here. The proof is in the wonderful old buildings still prominent throughout the downtown and surrounding area. I really love when these old buildings are given new life.
One such building is the Texas & Pacific Station. Opened in October 1931 to replace the previous building, this building served as railroad terminal and office space with warehouse space just to the west. It was designed in Zigzag Moderne Art Deco styling.
Look at these cool, and I do believe original, doors!
The building was run down and abandoned when we first moved to Fort Worth in 1999. According to Wiki (yes, I know what they say about Wiki), that area of downtown declined when the freeway (I-30) was built in 1958. In 1967, the terminal was closed when passenger train service to Fort Worth ended. After that, HUD was the lone tenant from the 70s to the 90s.
The lobby was returned to its former glory in 1999 and passenger service began again when the Trinity Railway Express extended into Fort Worth.
Much to my surprise and pleasure, renovations began on the building in the early 2000s and in 2006, the first lofts were for sale. A smaller adjacent building was built on the east side of the original. The north view of downtown is spectacular I'm sure. The southern view--I guess if you look past the freeway. According to another site, the warehouse building is also slated for renovations, but the economy has postponed those plans.
This is the addition they built to the left of the original.
It's more modern than the original building, sad to say.
I would have loved to see them duplicate the external architectural design.
I took these pictures of the outside (obviously), but did not attempt to go inside. To see pictures of the lobby, click here. And to look at what they've done with the lofts, click here and here.
I still have more pictures, but another trip with my friends will be discussed this weekend.
Do you live in a city with a rich history, architectural and otherwise??
2 comments:
Beautiful old buildings, also the old post office next door. Went in many times while my hubby was doing real estate.
My brother's wedding reception was held in the lobby--it was beautiful!
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