TXU-TCC Power Plant

Here's something I just sent to the Startlegram . . .


To the Editor:

At this moment bulldozers are poised to wreck another Fort Worth landmark, the TXU Power Plant. This valuable historic resource was supposed to have been part of the Trinity River Vision.

Has Fort Worth already lost its Vision? The Trinity Uptown Plan, approved December 2004, is an essential element of the Trinity River Vision. The first step in changing the Vision, for the worse, occurred on June 3, when the City signed demolition papers for the historic plant on the north side of the Trinity River.

The demolition is part of the double-secret sales deal made between Tarrant Community College and TXU in October 2004. Instead of preserving the landmark, they have decided to demolish this integral part of the Trinity Uptown Plan. Why don’t TCC and TXU share in the Vision?

The website www.trinityrivervision.org states that “the Vision of the Trinity River Vision Master Plan is to preserve and enhance the river corridors so that they remain as essential greenways for open space, trails, neighborhood focal points, wildlife, and special recreation areas.”

According to the Trinity Uptown Plan, “the TXU Power Plant site will anchor this area both physically and programmatically with a diverse mix of uses that attract people to the river. Many of the existing structures will be adapted to accommodate these uses. Ideally, the Power Plant stacks will be retained as landmark structures within the mid-rise development. Docks are located here to facilitate the launching and landing of small watercraft.”

Numerous maps and artistic renderings depict the TXU Power Plant as a prominent element of the plan. The plant, constructed in 1912, is a complex of buildings and structures eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.

This “landmark” will not, however, “anchor” the area once TXU and TCC are finished with the site – it will be rubble. Isn’t anything in Fort Worth worth preserving? From a historic preservation perspective, we will be living in Fort Worthless in another decade or so.

It has been barely eight months since the plan was approved and it is already falling apart. What will be the next element sacrificed?

With the Trinity River Vision we have an opportunity to integrate a historic landmark into a fabulous plan for the future. It is not time for TXU and TCC to do their own thing – it is time for them to get with the plan: See the Vision – don’t obstruct it!

Here's something I just sent to the Startlegram . . .


To the Editor:

At this moment bulldozers are poised to wreck another Fort Worth landmark, the TXU Power Plant.  This valuable historic resource was supposed to have been part of the Trinity River Vision.

Has Fort Worth already lost its Vision?  The Trinity Uptown Plan, approved December 2004, is an essential element of the Trinity River Vision.  The first step in changing the Vision, for the worse, occurred on June 3, when the City signed demolition papers for the historic plant on the north side of the Trinity River. 

The demolition is part of the double-secret sales deal made between Tarrant Community College and TXU in October 2004.  Instead of preserving the landmark, they have decided to demolish this integral part of the Trinity Uptown Plan.  Why don’t TCC and TXU share in the Vision? 

The website www.trinityrivervision.org states that “the Vision of the Trinity River Vision Master Plan is to preserve and enhance the river corridors so that they remain as essential greenways for open space, trails, neighborhood focal points, wildlife, and special recreation areas.” 

According to the Trinity Uptown Plan, “the TXU Power Plant site will anchor this area both physically and programmatically with a diverse mix of uses that attract people to the river. Many of the existing structures will be adapted to accommodate these uses. Ideally, the Power Plant stacks will be retained as landmark structures within the mid-rise development.  Docks are located here to facilitate the launching and landing of small watercraft.”

Numerous maps and artistic renderings depict the TXU Power Plant as a prominent element of the plan.  The plant, constructed in 1912, is a complex of buildings and structures eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. 

This “landmark” will not, however, “anchor” the area once TXU and TCC are finished with the site – it will be rubble. Isn’t anything in Fort Worth worth preserving?  From a historic preservation perspective, we will be living in Fort Worthless in another decade or so. 

It has been barely eight months since the plan was approved and it is already falling apart.  What will be the next element sacrificed? 

With the Trinity River Vision we have an opportunity to integrate a historic landmark into a fabulous plan for the future.  It is not time for TXU and TCC to do their own thing – it is time for them to get with the plan:  See the Vision – don’t obstruct it!

What an outrage! Those smokestacks and the adjoining structures are grand and historic and surely good for some kind of adaptive reuse. What can they be thinking? The TXU plant may not be Penn Station, but FW ain't New York. FW needs to work with what it's got, and in this instance, what it's got is pretty darn good.

Here's something I just sent to the Startlegram . . .


To the Editor:


According to the Trinity Uptown Plan, “the TXU Power Plant site will anchor this area both physically and programmatically with a diverse mix of uses that attract people to the river. Many of the existing structures will be adapted to accommodate these uses. Ideally, the Power Plant stacks will be retained as landmark structures within the mid-rise development.  Docks are located here to facilitate the launching and landing of small watercraft.”

They could of kept one at least and turned it into a non-functioning (or functioning if possible) mini-lighthouse to go with the theme of launching/landing watercraft. Now that would of been a cool re-use for one or both stacks