Russell Grace/Liberty Electric Building No More

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A quick note – while taking photos of the Love Shack progress at SoSeven, we couldn’t help notice that the last of the buildings across the street, stretching from the old Hillard Collision building to the tattoo shop, has been demolished. The Liberty Electric Tattoo/Russell Grace Insurance building wasn’t particularly remarkable, but it was a charming piece of old 7th Street urbanism. What was more spectacular was the old Russell Grace Insurance sign, a classic example of big, bold American urban neon signage.

Well, it’s all a pile of rubble now, as the property’s owner, Chesapeake Energy, has leveled the building. Chesapeake has been demolishing buildings left and right along this stretch of 7th, with no announcement as to what is being planned. We’d like to think Chesapeake is planning to sell the property to developers, but we’re cynical enough to believe it’s probably all just for a gas drilling rig. Still, the question remains – with their property stretching far back off 7th, why the need to demolish the buildings on the street itself? We won’t miss the collision repair place, but the Russell Grace building was pretty cool.

Another small piece of Fort Worth’s history removed with the strike of a backhoe.