Aug 31, 2009
Brace Building Demolished
By: Kevin Buchanan
The Brace Building, at the northeast corner of 8th Avenue & Magnolia in the Near Southside, finally had its day with the demolition crew. The historic two-story load-bearing brick structure came down on Sunday, as crews tore into it with heavy equipment while spraying water on the debris to keep down asbestos dust.
The building has been demolished to make way for a Comerica bank. The new bank has been the subject of a long-running feud between Comerica and neighborhood interests, as Comerica has been pushing to build a single-story building with a fake second floor, while bodies such as Fort Worth South, Inc., and Historic Fairmount have been pressuring Comerica to construct a building of at least two real floors so that the building could serve a mix of uses in the future after Comerica leaves. We expect some news on changes to the new construction soon and will report more once we hear it.
Comerica, so far, has constructed the least attractive bank branches of any commercial bank. I truly hope they will do someting that is a total departure from their normal design on this site. This is very dissapointing that they have torn this building down. In my opinion this demonstrates that Comerica really doesn’t care about improving the Near South Side. I hope they prove me wrong.
we need another bank like another hole in the head. maybe we could have a nail salon on the second floor. now that would be value-added!
We really do have too many banks. What is it with this city and banks?
I thought the building had a reprieve for perhaps a Comerica redesign…I agree with the poster that said hopefully they will do something that is a total departure from their usual branch design on that site…..the new structure needs to fit in with the historic area especially since it’s at a prominent corner. Also, I remember they were supposed to reuse the brick in the new structure; it looks like the brick got dozed with the rest of the structure.