ramjet

It would be fun to see how they get up to the catwalk.

Growing up there in the '70's, the youth pastor took a few of us up to the catwalks that are in the space above the ceiling.  There are mechanisms that can lower the brass chandeliers with a cable to the ground so they can get cleaned and new lightbulbs.  There was a carillon in the steeple, but I have not heard it play since I've returned to Fort Worth, so I don't know if it's still in place.  There used to be a small crows nest balcony at the top of the back wall of the sanctuary that the youth pastor took us to which had an amazing view of the Southside and downtown.  I guess it was covered up when they built the children's building attached to the back of the sanctuary.  (Nope, just looked at Google street view and in the right space you can still see the little balcony.) Lots of cool little rooms, nooks, and mystery doors sprinkled throughout the building that I remember. 

I attended the contemporary service at Travis Avenue on Berry Street this morning.  I'm not really a Christmas guy, but this service got me in the Christmas spirit.  I arrived there early so I took a few pics:

These signs went up over the plywood along Houston Street.  Very hopeful!

Dogtopia has opened in downtown Fort Worth.  A few pics below, along with a link to what the building used to look like.  As a resident of downtown, I'm very pleased the way the project turned out.  It brightens up and adds some life to a drab corner of the area.  The owner is very nice.  She explained some of the challenges of the project (the building was actually three buildings put together), and was nice enough to give me a tour.  This is a great addition for pet owners in the neighborhood.  (I'm emailing her a link to this post.)

What it used to look like:

https://www.google.c...KXMDSoASAFQAw==

On my walk this morning I talked to two guys who were installing what looked like a fairly elaborate set of lights on the "Avenue of Light" statue at Lancaster and Throckmorton.  I asked them if this was planned for all the statues, and he said he assumed that would be the case.  I haven't found any information on the Arts Fort Worth or the City's public art website.  I talked to someone from Arts Fort Worth at the Magnolia Goggle last year who said the plan was to relight the statues.  I guess it's starting to happen.  Maybe someone on the Forum has some better information.

Some dusk shots of the newly lit T&P entrance.  The T&P Station sign is supposed to be lit, but the light strips were not on when I took these pics.

Wasn't sure where to put this, but Forbes has an interesting article about the adaptive reuse of buildings in Fort Worth.  Not a lot of new information in the article for regular Forum readers, but they did mention that the Sandman Hotel intends to reopen next year.

https://www.forbes.c...-be-fort-worth/

I was in downtown Dallas yesterday and took these pics of the fire-damaged old sanctuary of First Baptist Church Dallas.  It was hard to get very close with all the construction barriers surrounding it.

Ready to welcome visitors in 2030??  LOL.   Why would this take 6 years to get done?  Does everything in FW need to take almost a decade to get done?  The lack of urgency is mind boggling and to me is one of the reasons why developers are hesitant with investing in new projects here.

No one in charge.  No leadership.  No Amon Carters in the room.

Great pics.

 

That's kind of what I was getting at.  Outside of publicly calling them out, which they won't do, what else can they do?  Taft isn't going to call them out.  There are Sundance/City Center staff on the DFWI PID boards.

You are correct.  Actually I think calling them out makes them less compelled to do anything.  If their reasoning is something more than just a conflict with DTFW Inc. I think it is more about the state of downtowns across the US.  Downtowns once again are needing to reinvent themselves from the post covid slump.

 

Don't mean to be contrary, I have great respect for all points of view on this forum, y'all are great citizens/residents of Fort Worth, but I disagree.  We should be different, our leaders should be different and courageous.  We, including the downtown community, should be advocating/fighting for an EXCELLENT version of our wonderful downtown.  I'll keep trying.     

This week the Dallas Business Journal reported the parking lots at 1011 Taylor and 1021 Taylor St. were sold to Parkway Corporation. Their highlighted portfolio looks promising. I can imagine this would be prime residential tower real estate depending on how the Deco does.

https://www.parkwaycorp.com/Journal

Interestingly, those two lots were repaved and re-striped today.  Hopefully, it's just a temporary improvement.  I love the idea of housing and retail on those lots.

 

At some point, Ed and Sasha will have to answer for something around here...

Maybe this will be the spark? 

 

I don't like what's happening to Sundance Square any more than anyone else, but to whom are they going to owe answers?  They own all of this free and clear.  If it's losing money right now, and that's a big if, they seem pretty content to rest on their laurels.  Do you think someone in government is going to demand action, especially when the outgoing city manager is their regular dinner and travel date?

 

Once again, absolutely no leadership from City Hall, including Parker and Beck, and Taft and his staff.

So, Free People is expanding or something else is going in there?  I like the idea of Apple moving to a larger space.  It's always been crazy crowded when I've been to their current store.

I'm very happy about this project, as is my car!