18 replies to this topic

[Brian Luenser]

Was such a nice day today I grabbed my wife and camera and walked around on the near East side. Hilltop neighborhood (a jewel) and then in an industrial area that is basically East 9th Street. I know it as the King Candy Factory area. I was very surprised by how nice that area is for a down and out industrial area. It was spic and span. It looked like a Hollywood set. Visited with a nice security guard over there. The only human we saw. A few shots of my trip...

What a crazy building this it. I do kind of like it however.


Shot up East 9th street.



The long abandoned King Candy Factory. (Maybe I should go break in and call it my own under the Texas Adverse possession laws. Lazy idiots. They are breeding too rapidly.)









The way home



One of the Grandest Churches around. Built by Black Baptists in 1912. They did themselves very proud. Wow.



Another very handsome church building.




Have never seen one of these before in the this East side parking lot. An automated solar powered parking lot attendant. Credit cards only. That really surprises me that you need a credit card to park there. But a good idea.

[John S.]

A credit card only parking machine like that would make me nervous-looks like it could be easily rigged to swipe card numbers but maybe I'm just being paranoid. I like the photos, though. King Candy building is a survivor but who knows for how long. (probably until the next apartment/condo project to take advantage of the nice views) As the photos show, it would take a lot of work to bring it back and doubtful the building would lend itself well to be converted into lofts apartments but it would be very cool if it could be.

[Brian Luenser]

John, I agree with the vulnerability of the credit card machine. You have to always ask yourself if even giving somebody else your credit card number is worth it on a 3 buck transaction. I never use my credit card, particularly at a location new to me, for a transaction less than 15 bucks or so. Just an extra risk. I had never thought about this before, but maybe it would make sense to have one credit card with a tiny limit, like 200 bucks, just for small or risky transactions.

I think you are on to something about utilizing the King Candy building for condos. It is a huge and tall building. Might be a just the ticket. And the views would be great. Here is a shot looking back to the city from the other side of the complex. Keep in mind I had a very wide angle lens on so the city is much closer than it appears in this photo.

[David Love]

A credit card only parking machine like that would make me nervous-looks like it could be easily rigged to swipe card numbers but maybe I'm just being paranoid. I like the photos, though. King Candy building is a survivor but who knows for how long. (probably until the next apartment/condo project to take advantage of the nice views) As the photos show, it would take a lot of work to bring it back and doubtful the build, ing would lend itself well to be converted into lofts apartments but it would be very cool if it could be.

You check the scanner portion to make sure it's affixed to the machine, same for any ATMs you use but you're way more likely to get your card number snagged from a regular business. I had my card number get out by using a Kinko's on 7th... can happen anywhere and to anyone.

[David Love]

I've walked that area a number of times, I like the area.

[Doohickie]

I was never aware of that area. Is it possible to cross the train tracks just east of the old candy factory? It looks like you could loop around and come out on Lancaster just east of Main.

What you call condos in that building? Rail Yard Village?

[Brian Luenser]

Not until I just looked at your photo map did I know that 9th street is supposed to go east of those tracks. Currently you cannot. There are concrete barricades to keep you from crossing those tracks. As well as several long parked trains just as depicted in your photo map... as though they are impounding those trains pending payment of a toll...

The whole neighborhood is fascinating to me. I went to Historicaerial.com to look at this street back in time. Of course all those factories, including King Candy where full of cars from workers. Not much change to the industrial buildings. But when you go back to 1956, the area East of those most Eastern tracks is covered with a million tiny homes. Come back to 1963, they are all gone.

This area is as close as we get to a ghost town around here. Except for the security guard and being whistle clean.

[Cowtown Mike]

Brian,
Just think of the hundreds of people who worked in the King Candy building and you mentioned all the homes. I am sure that area was busy back in the day. Any background on the candy company?

P.S. Happy Thanksgiving to all and thankful for having a website to remember Fort Worth.

[David Love]

Brian,
Just think of the hundreds of people who worked in the King Candy building and you mentioned all the homes. I am sure that area was busy back in the day. Any background on the candy company?

P.S. Happy Thanksgiving to all and thankful for having a website to remember Fort Worth.

It's been losing bricks on the north side of the structure for about 3 years now, there is or was a Fresh Cut Fruit Company just before the King Candy building, could sometimes get hectic driving around back there. You can get there via 9th or Elm, then Luella takes you across 35 to the Boys and Girls club of Fort Worth and all those apartments which are well kept like Hillside.

[John T Roberts]

The crazy building that you are calling it, is the Obim Fresh Cut Fruit Co.

[Ron Payne]

Love that big red building, from the exposed brick beneath to the painted advertisements - very cool!

[Stadtplan]

Been a while since this old girl's seen a traffic jam in front of her...

[John T Roberts]

On the March Downtown Fort Worth Walking Tour, we covered the east side, including this area.  I noticed the wall of the easternmost building of the King Candy Co. was bowing out and was braced up, blocking the street parking along that stretch.  The collapse of the building behind had pierced that front brick wall and there was a hole in it.  I went back the next day and took pictures with my phone.  I then e-mailed those photographs via the phone to others.  Since I was there on March 20, the front wall of the King Candy Co. has now been completely removed, except for the stone base.  I found this out via an Instagram post.  My pictures are still on my phone, so I will upload them this week.

[John T Roberts]

I didn't get a chance to take a photograph of the building with the wall removed, but I did have time to pick a few photos that I took of the wall bracing that we found on the Downtown Walking Tour in March.

 

kingcandycollapse-03 by jtrobert, on Flickr

 

kingcandycollapse-01 by jtrobert, on Flickr

 

The collapse of the roof and floor behind punched a hole in the wall.  You can see blue sky behind the wall.

kingcandycollapse-02 by jtrobert, on Flickr

[johnfwd]

So, what's the status of this substandard building?  Demolition?

[John T Roberts]

No one seems to know for sure.  From what I have found, the City was not responsible for bracing up the wall, once it had failed, and then removing it to keep it from being a hazard.  I just dug through the permits and the city did issue a Commercial Razing Permit for the property.  It is not real clear if the permit is for the one building that has collapsed, or for the whole complex.

 

Here's the link to the Commercial Razing Permit:  https://accela.fortw...&agencyCode=CFW

 

The owner appears to be OBIM Holding Company, LLC at 600 E. 9th St., Suite 200.  OBIM is the Fresh-Cut Fruit Company that operates out of the old Fort Worth Poultry and Egg Complex immediately to the west of King Candy.

[Stadtplan]

No one seems to know for sure.  From what I have found, the City was not responsible for bracing up the wall, once it had failed, and then removing it to keep it from being a hazard.  I just dug through the permits and the city did issue a Commercial Razing Permit for the property.  It is not real clear if the permit is for the one building that has collapsed, or for the whole complex.

 

Here's the link to the Commercial Razing Permit:  https://accela.fortw...&agencyCode=CFW

 

The owner appears to be OBIM Holding Company, LLC at 600 E. 9th St., Suite 200.  OBIM is the Fresh-Cut Fruit Company that operates out of the old Fort Worth Poultry and Egg Complex immediately to the west of King Candy.

 

Application Information

RAZING

Square Footage: 7,450

Total Area of Disturbance: 7,450

[rriojas71]

I have always thought that if FW was to ever build a soccer stadium I would love to see it go in this area of downtown.

[RD Milhollin]

Quite an opportunity for anyone writing a textbook on "demolition by neglect"?