16 replies to this topic

[QuakerOatsGuy]

Here are a few pics from my father's collection. The old Medical Arts Building (where Burnett Plaza now stands), if I remember straight was torn down in 1973. He quickly snapped these shots without the aid of a tripod. He took more shots but I could only scan these for now. Very hard to find pictures of the building on the web, I've tried. Tell me what you think.

[John T Roberts]

Thanks for posting these. I would love to see all of the pictures in the sequence. I also took pictures of the implosion, but I need to find them and scan them.

[grow_smart]

From where is that picture taken from? I'm trying to get my bearings...

[JBB]

Awesome. That's the first color pic I've ever seen of the building. It's a shame that buidling is gone.

[QuakerOatsGuy]

From where is that picture taken from?  I'm trying to get my bearings...

I believe he was standing somewhere on Texas Street. But don't count me in 100% on that. If I'm not mistaken, it was the tallest skyscraper ever torn down in Fort Worth.

[John T Roberts]

QuakerOatsGuy, check out Fort Worth's Tallest Buildings. I have listed all of the heights of the current tallest buildings along with the three skyscrapers that were demolished. You are correct, the Medical Arts was the tallest building to date that has been demolished in the city. Soon, a building that is 100 feet taller will be torn down and for the first time, a former tallest building in the city will be demolished.

[lobster]

Thanks for posting these.  I would love to see all of the pictures in the sequence.  I also took pictures of the implosion, but I need to find them and scan them.

yow John you were there too?.. your lens has witnessed much in this city =]
what's the earliest downtown shots you ever took?

[WTx]

Still makes your heart sink when you see a great building like this demoed IMO.

Also, great parking rates back then.

[John T Roberts]

It would have made a great apartment building!

I'm guessing that the earliest that I took pictures of the city was probably between 1970 and 1972. I was more interested in photography and architecture after I started high school, and that was in the fall of 1972.

[Bill Sievers]

Neat pictures! The old MA building was indeed one which should have been left standing. My sister had her wisdom teeth removed there in the late '50's as I recall. At the time the building was torn down, I was living in Minnesota. A good friend of mine living in FTW at the time told me a story of how a construction worker on the ground was killed at the site when he got tangled up in the ground-to-crane operator's intercom wiring. Apparently the crane operator didn't realize the ground worker was caught in the wiring, and inadvertently hauled him up in the air to the height of the building. The sudden stop near the top broke the entangled worker free from the cabling, and he plunged to his death. Terrible way to die!

Also, didn't the MA Bulding have green awnings over the windows?

Bill Sievers
Natick, Mass.

[vjackson]

What a wonderful building. It's such a shame that was demolished to make way for hideous BP!!!!! If John is reading this....do you think you could sketch a crown or some sort of cap for Burnett Plaza?? I would love to see something done with that. It's not really a bad building until you get to the top. It currently looks like a big concrete box, especially from a distance.

[John T Roberts]

What a wonderful building.  It's such a shame that was demolished to make way for hideous BP!!!!!

I agree that the Medical Arts Building was beautiful. It was designed by Fort Worth's own Wyatt C. Hedrick, architect of many other beautiful 1920's skyscrapers present in downtown. It would have made a great loft apartment building.

If John is reading this....do you think you could sketch a crown or some sort of cap for Burnett Plaza??  I would love to see something done with that.   It's not really a bad building until you get to the top.  It currently looks like a big concrete box, especially from a distance.

I read every post on this forum. I may not respond to them all, but I do read them. Although I liked the Medical Arts Building, it is now gone and you can't change the past. I also appreciate all types of architecture. The architects of Burnett Plaza intended for the building to look like a big concrete box. That was their design intent.

The Medical Arts was demolished in 1973 specifically for the future construction of a new bank headquarters of the First National Bank of Fort Worth. The bank never moved into the building, but the opening date for Burnett Plaza was 10 years later, in 1983. This goes to show that plans for buildings take quite some time for them to actually get built from the day owners purchase the site until the building finally opens.


Bill, your story of the worker killed by being dropped from a crane is actually an incident from the construction of the Fort Worth National Bank Tower, a.k.a. The Tower, back in 1973. The Tower was under construction at the same time the Medical Arts was being demolished.

[Bill Sievers]

Thanks for the clarification John. I thought it was the MA building, but it was a long time ago when my friend related that story to me, so I must have gotten the buildings confused.

Bill Sievers

[hooked]

Thanks for posting these.  I would love to see all of the pictures in the sequence.  I also took pictures of the implosion, but I need to find them and scan them.

yow John you were there too?.. your lens has witnessed much in this city =]
what's the earliest downtown shots you ever took?

John and I have photos we took of Butch Cassidy shooting craps on Main Street. Of course, we were both much younger then.

[lobster]

John and I have photos we took of Butch Cassidy shooting craps on Main Street.  Of course, we were both much younger then.

ah.. i figured maybe you'd have a pic of the stone ruins from the original fort @ Heritage Park under construction, too ..

[vjackson]

"Although I liked the Medical Arts Building, it is now gone and you can't change the past. I also appreciate all types of architecture. The architects of Burnett Plaza intended for the building to look like a big concrete box. That was their design intent."

Not to sound pushy, but you didn't answer my question about crowning the building. Or are you saying you like the building as is??? I appreciate all types of architecture also, but I just think it's an unattractive building, that could be made much more attractive with some alterations...especially since it is such a prominent fixture to the FW skyline. I'm sure you've seen One Main Place here in Dallas, another huge bland concrete box...it reminds me so much of BP...except you don't notice it much because it's dwarfed by the rest of the skyline. I guess I'm just not a fan of huge concrete boxes.

[John T Roberts]

I am aware that I didn't answer your question. Although it is not my favorite downtown building, I do like it as it is. I think adding a crown at this time would make it look like an afterthought. Buildings that have crowns are usually more square in shape. This building is over 300 feet long and only 90 feet wide.

I'm also too much of a purist. I don't believe in changing a facade of a building just because someone doesn't like it.

You would then probably ask me what I thought of the redesign of The Tower. I have mixed emotions. The purist in me says that it should have been restored to the way that it looked before the tornado. However, the practical side of me knows that the current building codes and availability of that type of glass would not allow the facade to be rebuilt exactly as it looked before. Knowing that, a new facade would not be inappropriate. I do like the new incomplete facade better than the old one.