The local architectural/development scene has been buzzing since the announcement yesterday that Tarrant County College was giving up on its new downtown campus and instead buying Radio Shack’s headquarters down the street. A lot has been said about the decision, and a lot of questions have been raised. One of the more thought-provoking bits of writing I’ve read was by John T. Roberts, local architect and the man behind Architecture in Fort Worth. In a post on his site’s forum, John expressed several concerns related to the decision. Here’s an excerpt:
Here is what I am worried about. I’m worried that they will stop construction on the work that is currently underway and we will have something like Austin had with the unfinished Intel buildings. They have already raped the bluff. I’m also worried that if they do finish that building, then they will try to sell it and no one will purchase it. I’m also worried about the Power Plant. It is a currently unprotected historic landmark. The college could sell that property and then another developer could demolish it by just getting a demolition permit. This is my plea to our City Council. Now is the time to have a Council Initiated historic property of the former TXU Power Plant. I’m also concerned about the state of Heritage Plaza (the developed portion of Heritage Park). I thought that through the Section 106 mitigation, that there might be hope for the Halprin designed plaza. I also thought that if the campus was built across Main Street, there might be a reason to rehabilitate the park and the students could use it. In other words, having the campus there, activity might increase if the park were reopened.
Great points as usual.
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