Jump to content


Photo
- - - - -

Camp Bowie

Started by McHand, May 31 2008 09:00 AM

  • Please log in to reply
16 replies to this topic

#1 McHand

McHand

    Elite Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 763 posts
  • Gender:Female
  • Location:The Parks of Deer Creek
  • Interests:music, neighborhoods, kids, education, biking, politics, urbanism, food, friends, family

Posted 31 May 2008 - 09:00 AM

QUOTE (Willy1 @ Jan 11 2008, 01:19 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Is anything being done to revitalize CB?



Just for fun one day a few years ago I went into Stripling & Cox. It was nice to park in the shade! The merchandise wasn't that great, but I could imagine that at one time it was and the service must have been fabulous.

More generally speaking, I'm wondering the same thing. The traffic circle is overlooked,IMO. I've lived in FW again now for 5 years and only recently I learned there's a farmer's market on the circle! That's surprising, since everyone wants locally grown these days. I guess they don't want the secret to get out!

Voice & Guitars in Big Heaven
Elementary Music Specialist, FWISD

Texas Wesleyan 2015
Shaw-Clarke NA Alumna

 

 

#2 McHand

McHand

    Elite Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 763 posts
  • Gender:Female
  • Location:The Parks of Deer Creek
  • Interests:music, neighborhoods, kids, education, biking, politics, urbanism, food, friends, family

Posted 31 May 2008 - 09:02 AM

oops, double posted!

Voice & Guitars in Big Heaven
Elementary Music Specialist, FWISD

Texas Wesleyan 2015
Shaw-Clarke NA Alumna

 

 

#3 Giraffe

Giraffe

    Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 181 posts

Posted 31 May 2008 - 11:59 AM

It is kind of sad to see how Camp Bowie has gone downhill over the years. The big Peaches music store/Sound Warehouse is gone, and so is Highland Appliance and Crystal's Pizza.


As for the Traffic Circle, a couple of months ago I finally got around to eating at the Eidelweiss restaurant for the first time. It's been there for decades and it seems that everyone I know has been there at one time or another. I'd never eaten German food before and went in with an open mind. The food was different, to be sure, and very tasty.

Way back in the early '70s there was some sort of a big store on Hwy 377, almost up against the Traffic Circle, called "Kennedy and Cohen." I remember their TV commercials: some guy on screen would hold up a turkey (was it frozen?) and say, "You have our bird on it!" (I think it was a joke that was meant to sound like "You have our word on it.") It closed a very long time ago and today I think the building is being used as an athletic center or something. Anybody got any info on Kennedy & Cohen?

#4 Dr Quest

Dr Quest

    Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 61 posts
  • Location:Riverpark

Posted 31 May 2008 - 02:11 PM

QUOTE (Giraffe @ May 31 2008, 12:59 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Way back in the early '70s there was some sort of a big store on Hwy 377, almost up against the Traffic Circle, called "Kennedy and Cohen." I remember their TV commercials: some guy on screen would hold up a turkey (was it frozen?) and say, "You have our bird on it!" (I think it was a joke that was meant to sound like "You have our word on it.") It closed a very long time ago and today I think the building is being used as an athletic center or something. Anybody got any info on Kennedy & Cohen?


I think the building you are referring to was originally a Curtis Mathis. After it shut down it became a short lived health club and after that it was Westside Storys which housed 3 or 4 different bars. It's now home to an electrical supplier or contractor.

It's funny, since my grandmother's home was in Ridglea West I pretty much grew up there. I never think of the traffic circle or Hwy 80 (Camp Bowie West) as run down until a friend comes in from out of town and I can see thru their eyes just how bad it is.

#5 travelbear

travelbear

    Junior Member

  • Members
  • PipPip
  • 36 posts

Posted 01 June 2008 - 09:33 PM

Anyone remember or go to "The Box?" I beleive the address was 6399 Camp Bowie, you entered from the back side of the shopping center. Lots of local bands played there Friday and Saturday nights. About 1969 I saw Eric Burdon and the Animals play there. Must have been at least 300 people crammed in that little place.

#6 cbellomy

cbellomy

    Elite Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 652 posts
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Meadowbrook

Posted 01 June 2008 - 10:03 PM

QUOTE (travelbear @ Jun 1 2008, 10:33 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Anyone remember or go to "The Box?" I beleive the address was 6399 Camp Bowie, you entered from the back side of the shopping center. Lots of local bands played there Friday and Saturday nights. About 1969 I saw Eric Burdon and the Animals play there. Must have been at least 300 people crammed in that little place.


I'm too young to remember it in that incarnation, but I remember I Gotcha. Or was it the Speak Easy? I forget which was in that spot.

#7 Dr Quest

Dr Quest

    Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 61 posts
  • Location:Riverpark

Posted 01 June 2008 - 10:09 PM

QUOTE (cbellomy @ Jun 1 2008, 11:03 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (travelbear @ Jun 1 2008, 10:33 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Anyone remember or go to "The Box?" I beleive the address was 6399 Camp Bowie, you entered from the back side of the shopping center. Lots of local bands played there Friday and Saturday nights. About 1969 I saw Eric Burdon and the Animals play there. Must have been at least 300 people crammed in that little place.


I'm too young to remember it in that incarnation, but I remember I Gotcha. Or was it the Speak Easy? I forget which was in that spot.


I just had this conversation with a buddy of mine. I thought I Gotcha and Speak Easy were next door to each other and open at the same time....he doesn't think they were. I remember I Gotcha as the one closer to where Tuesday Morning is now and it was 2 clubs in one, a R&R side and a C&W side, I never went into Speak Easy but I remember it as being a little more urban.

#8 Dismuke

Dismuke

    Skyscraper Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 2,098 posts
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Fort Worth
  • Interests:Late 19th/early 20th century history, popular culture architecture and music. Collecting 78 rpm records from the 1900 - 1930 era.

Posted 01 June 2008 - 10:12 PM

QUOTE (Giraffe @ May 31 2008, 12:59 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Anybody got any info on Kennedy & Cohen?



There used to be a Kennedy & Cohen location in Garland visible from LBJ freeway. I think it was near Jupiter Road. They were one of many electronics/appliance retailers that have come and gone over the years. I did not realize that they was more than one of them - but your mention and a quick google search indicates that there were. The only reason I remember them at all was because of the jingles they used to run on radio and television. I was very young at the time but for some reason it made an impression and stuck. The jingle was "get up and get goin' to Kennedy & Cohen." I don't remember the rest of the jingle but I remember the tune which, looking back, was pretty lame.
Radio Dismuke
1920s & 1930s Pop & Jazz
24-Hour Internet Radio
www.RadioDismuke.com

#9 Buck

Buck

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPipPipPip
  • 397 posts

Posted 02 June 2008 - 08:37 PM

Kennedy & Cohen had a huge sign.

I swear -- and this is before Hulen built up -- coming into town on I-35 at the hill south of Burleson, you could look to the west and see the big pink Kennedy & Cohen neon.

It became West Side Stories later. And it's still there, last I looked.

The Box and I Gotcha had doors in back by Tuesday morning. But wasn't the Speak-Easy door in front?

#10 Phil Phillips

Phil Phillips

    Senior Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 240 posts
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:DWG, TX

Posted 03 June 2008 - 11:41 AM

Yes, Speak Easy was the larger club with doors facing Camp Bowie and I Gotcha was smaller with doors on the back side of the shopping center. Last in I Gotcha for a 50's-themed night in '74 or so.

#11 Giraffe

Giraffe

    Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 181 posts

Posted 09 January 2009 - 07:15 PM

QUOTE (avenuebabe @ May 31 2008, 09:00 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (Willy1 @ Jan 11 2008, 01:19 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Is anything being done to revitalize CB?



Just for fun one day a few years ago I went into Stripling & Cox. It was nice to park in the shade! The merchandise wasn't that great, but I could imagine that at one time it was and the service must have been fabulous.




I read in the _Star-Telegram_ Wednesday (7 Jan. '09) that the Stripling & Cox Department Store building on Camp Bowie Blvd. will be torn down later this month. It was built in 1957 for Cox Dept. Stores.

A new shopping center will be built on the property.

#12 longhornz32

longhornz32

    Senior Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 337 posts
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Fort Worth, TX
  • Interests:Architect, photography, woodworking, jazz, guitar/bass/saxophone, sculpture.

Posted 09 January 2009 - 11:34 PM

QUOTE (Giraffe @ Jan 9 2009, 07:15 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I read in the _Star-Telegram_ Wednesday (7 Jan. '09) that the Stripling & Cox Department Store building on Camp Bowie Blvd. will be torn down later this month. It was built in 1957 for Cox Dept. Stores.

A new shopping center will be built on the property.



I drove by tonight and it has already begun to be torn down.

#13 McHand

McHand

    Elite Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 763 posts
  • Gender:Female
  • Location:The Parks of Deer Creek
  • Interests:music, neighborhoods, kids, education, biking, politics, urbanism, food, friends, family

Posted 02 April 2009 - 08:59 PM

All gone, now. Any word on what will fill the space? eta: I mean, more specifics about the shopping center project?

Voice & Guitars in Big Heaven
Elementary Music Specialist, FWISD

Texas Wesleyan 2015
Shaw-Clarke NA Alumna

 

 

#14 Fort Worthology

Fort Worthology

    Skyscraper Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 3,126 posts
  • Gender:Female
  • Location:Portland, OR

Posted 02 April 2009 - 09:36 PM

QUOTE (avvy @ Apr 2 2009, 09:59 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
All gone, now. Any word on what will fill the space? eta: I mean, more specifics about the shopping center project?


Just that it's a strip mall. Haven't heard anything about tenants. I sort of stopped paying attention after the renderings came out.

--

Kara B.

 

#15 mmiller2002

mmiller2002

    Elite Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 965 posts
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:North Hi Mounttttt
  • Interests:Born 1959
    HS Grad 1977
    1982 BSEE Penn State

Posted 03 April 2009 - 01:02 PM

QUOTE (Atomic Glee @ Apr 2 2009, 10:36 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (avvy @ Apr 2 2009, 09:59 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
All gone, now. Any word on what will fill the space? eta: I mean, more specifics about the shopping center project?


Just that it's a strip mall. Haven't heard anything about tenants. I sort of stopped paying attention after the renderings came out.


Where's the renderings? But, it's not like that part of CB would lend itself to urban design or high rise like the 7th projects, so a strip center should be fine.

#16 gdvanc

gdvanc

    Elite Member

  • Admin
  • PipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 899 posts
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Arlington

Posted 03 April 2009 - 01:22 PM

The Cox development has been discussed here; that topic has links to the developer's web page for the project. Ignore the pic at the top of the page; it was made when the plan was to use the existing building.

#17 Fort Worthology

Fort Worthology

    Skyscraper Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 3,126 posts
  • Gender:Female
  • Location:Portland, OR

Posted 03 April 2009 - 01:27 PM

QUOTE (mmiller2002 @ Apr 3 2009, 02:02 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
But, it's not like that part of CB would lend itself to urban design or high rise like the 7th projects, so a strip center should be fine.


Who said anything about highrises? The 7th Street projects aren't appropriate on that part of Camp Bowie yet, but there are near infinite other variations to consider.

Camp Bowie absolutely lends itself to urban designs (the great thing about traditional urbanism is that it has variations that work very nearly anywhere). If we decide that x part of the street "doesn't lend itself to urban design" then it never will. Bit by bit, it can change. This sort of classic, simple, modest form (in whatever style of architecture):



Would start re-shaping Camp Bowie into a form that's more walkable and versatile (and this example isn't really that far removed from the older structures on Camp Bowie nearer to downtown). Bring the buildings to the sidewalk, put the parking on-street/to the sides & rear, and add in even a single second floor for other uses to reduce & eliminate trips. Over time, the new form creates a traditional neighborhood center setting, as it is redeveloped lot by lot, block by block. It slowly starts to create a place rather than a series of pad sites & pavement.

--

Kara B.

 

Back to Local History


0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users

  1. Fort Worth Forum
  2. → Architecture
  3. → Local History
  4. Privacy Policy
  5. Board Guidelines and Rules ·