Sep 2, 2010 20

Avoca Coffee headed to Magnolia

By: Kevin Buchanan

At long last, a local coffee shop is headed to Magnolia Avenue in the Near Southside.  The former Sundance Scooters building at Magnolia & 6th will soon be home to Avoca Coffee, a new indie coffee shop by owners Jimmy Story and Garold LaRue.  For context, the site is across the street from Magnolia from Spiral Diner, Lili’s, and Panther City Bicycles, a block east of Nonna Tata and The Usual, and a block west of the Chat Room.

Avoca hopes to be far enough along to host artists during Arts Goggle on October 2nd, and they’re shooting for a November grand opening.  The building will serve double duty, with the eastern half (on the left) serving as the roasting facility (yes, they’re roasting their own beans), while the western half on the right will function as the actual coffee shop.  Haven’t heard too many details of the renovations yet, but I’ve heard some talk of bringing the western end of the building out closer to Magnolia, as well as an outdoor patio on the Magnolia frontage.

A local coffee shop has been a missing piece of the Magnolia puzzle for a long time, so this is a great development.  Increasing the variety of businesses on Magnolia, and giving people places to do more than just come in and dine, will help with Magnolia’s pedestrian and bike activity as well, since people will spend more time if there’s more than just restaurants.  Can’t wait to see how Avoca turns out.

Aug 26, 2010 7

Stayton Progress

By: Kevin Buchanan

The first of three towers at the Stayton retirement condo development in So7 has topped out, and the building’s distinctive swooping roof is going up.  It also appears that they’re getting closer to having some facade work underway.  Towers 2 and 3 aren’t far behind – the development’s already making a pretty noticeable addition to the Cultural District.

If you’d like to get a sneak preview of the Stayton, check out our in-depth look at the project from last year.

As an aside, can I point out a problem with the new So7 sidewalks?

The width’s pretty good, but the arrangement of the lamps and trees is awkward.  You’ll be weaving your way between the two when you encounter them together, and when just passing trees their location inboard towards development means pedestrians will be out on the edge by the curb, next to traffic.  From a pedestrian standpoint, it’s better to have all the objects like lamps and trees in the area of the sidewalk next to the curb, to provide a physical and psychological barrier between pedestrian walking space and traffic.  (Picture all the trees lined up on the same side as those lamps, and you’ll get the idea.)  Minor?  Perhaps, but I wanted to point it out all the same.

Aug 23, 2010 2

Dunn-Haven Building Redevelopment Progress – New Blanchard Schaefer Headquarters

By: Kevin Buchanan

The former Dunn-Haven Apartments building at Adams & Magnolia’s already come a long way.  There’s a lot of interior work underway that’s, obviously, a little difficult to see from many outside vantage points, but what’s not hard to see is the exterior renovation work.  In particular, the building’s now got a ton of new windows.  It’s always amazing to see how new windows can make such a huge difference in the appearance of a building.

The Dunn-Haven building is one of the older structures on Magnolia, having been built in 1914.  It shows elements of various styles, including the Prairie School. It is of a configuration not common in this area, with its three stories and full porches at each level. A similar structure can be found in the nearby Fairmount neighborhood south of Magnolia, the currently vacant Bomar Apartments at 1507 Alston, built in 1907.

The building is being redeveloped into the headquarters of advertising & public relations firm Blanchard Schaefer, who are relocating their business from Arlington to be in a walkable & bikeable neighborhood with a strong community and creative feel.

Aug 19, 2010 4

ArtAffects Gallery – New Art Gallery on Magnolia

By: Kevin Buchanan

Located in the same building as Cat City Grill, ArtAffects Gallery opened earlier this month in the ground floor of 1208 W. Magnolia in the Near Southside.  A small two-room gallery space, ArtAffects showcases emerging regional artists working in contemporary and abstract styles.

You can’t help but notice the space as you walk or bike the street – the lights stay on until midnight, and with the works being right up on the sidewalk, the impact of the art gets transmitted right out into the public realm.  Currently, ArtAffects is featuring the work of Starr Perry, whose bold and bright artwork has found her clients ranging from Westin and NYLO hotels to Trammell Crow and London’s Heathrow Airport.

ArtAffects is run by central city resident Katie Dillow, who intends for the gallery to become an active part of the Near Southside community and the city’s art scene as a whole, both by participation in events like Arts Goggle and by working with local businesses who want to enhance their own spaces with local art (an example being a recent event at Grace in downtown).

After years of Magnolia storefronts being mainly occupied by restaurants and offices, it’s great to see some variety starting to emerge.  ArtAffects is a cool establishment that splashes art right onto the sidewalks and bike lanes of Magnolia Avenue, and I can’t wait to see it grow and evolve over time.

Check out ArtAffect’s web site for more.  Here are some other photos of the gallery in the evening:

Aug 13, 2010 14

Last Call for the Ridglea?

By: Kevin Buchanan

Things are looking grim for the Ridglea Theater.  It’s my understanding that Bank of America has been meeting with the building’s owners, Fix Funding, as well as Councilman Zimmerman, about moving forward with purchasing the structure.  BoA may even already have the building under contract.  Councilman Zimmerman does not seem to be responsive to efforts to save the building.  He apparently believes Bank of America’s plan to demolish everything but the facade of the theater to build a drive-through bank branch to be a positive proposal.  Given the opposition from Historic Fort Worth and large numbers of Fort Worth residents who may not even care for the metal acts that frequent the Ridglea today but who wish to see the building saved and not replaced with a generic drive-through bank hiding behind the shell of the facade, this attitude from the district’s elected official is deeply disappointing.

I feel that the best hope now is to tell Bank of America of your opposition to the proposal.  In other words, a large national corporation must act based on the community’s wishes where its own elected official will not.  Here is the contact information of the BoA reps involved:

Diane Wagner:  312.828.2932, diane.wagner@bankofamerica.com
Mike Pavel: email via mandy.kizer@bankofamerica.com

And of course, you can still e-mail Zim via the following link:

Zim Zimmerman – 817-392-8803 - District3@fortworthgov.org

Personally, I feel that demolishing a historic theater and performance venue, along with its associated mixed-use historic building, just to replace them with a generic drive-through bank branch making a half-hearted attempt to “fit in” by hiding behind a tiny sliver of the original structure is no progress at all (especially given Ridglea’s status as a designated Urban Village, an area the city wants to see grow denser and more walkable with more mixed uses).  Replacing something as iconic and unique in Fort Worth’s history as the Ridglea with another generic pod of cookie-cutter suburbia, yet another bank branch on a formerly important street that is increasingly home to bland and generic junk, is a terrible mistake.  I’ve seen buildings in far worse condition be saved .  Once it’s gone, it’s gone forever – I hope we won’t make this mistake.  If you agree, please let the powers that be know.

And check out the Save the Ridglea Theater group while you’re at it.

Update:  Got forwarded a letter sent to Bank of America and Councilman Zimmerman from Steve Smith, partner at local marketing firm Starr Tincup, that quite eloquently states its case:

Dear Diane, Mike and Council Member Zimmerman:

As a Fort Worth business owner, I am deeply concerned by reports I see about Bank of America’s plans for the Ridglea Theater. My company works with clients all over the world, and when we bring them to Fort Worth, they are always surprised to discover that we are so much more than our Cowtown image. On the contrary, Fort Worth has become a cosmopolitan city – in large part because we are rich in cultural and architectural diversity. We embrace our past as we move into the future. However, transforming the Ridglea Theater into a bank is a step in the wrong direction. Destroying the Ridglea Theater costs Fort Worth a little piece of its soul.

I know that this may sound a little hippy-dippy to you, but my company is a $12 million business that can operate anywhere in the world. We choose to be in Fort Worth because it’s a great place to live and can attract the talent we need to compete on a global scale. The writers, coders, designers and creative types that I need are a lot more compelled to live in a city where the Ridglea Theater can thrive as a music venue or art-house movie theater, not be razed to build another bank. Destroying the Ridglea actually has an impact on my business.

I urge you to please consider other options before making this tragic mistake.

Thank you for your consideration,

Steve

–
Steve Smith
Starr Tincup
817.204.0279 || starrtincup.com

Aug 12, 2010 4

The Canopy at 8.0

By: Kevin Buchanan

A quick note:  there’s the new translucent canopy structure Sundance Square installed over the patio at 8.0 in Downtown.  Not too bad looking, though I hear it causes something of a greenhouse effect.  It’ll allow concerts in the rain while still letting the trees get sunlight.

Aug 12, 2010 2

Blue Sushi Sake Grill Progress

By: Kevin Buchanan

Looks as though Blue Sushi Sake Grill is rolling right along in its future home – the ground floor of the Museum Place Flatiron, where 7th, University, Camp Bowie, and Bailey come together, across the street from Eddie V’s.

Blue is, oddly, an import from Omaha, Nebraska.  There are three locations in Omaha, with the Museum Place location being its first venture out of that area.  So, if anybody out there has been through Omaha and dined at Blue, what did you think?

Aug 11, 2010 8

Citizen Theater Location Update

By: Kevin Buchanan

Our friends over at the Citizen Theater have posted an update on their search for a location for the planned twin-screen art house movie theater in the Near Southside:

We have some exciting news. We’ve thought a lot about where we want The Citizen to be. Prevoiusly we were trying to renovate an older buidling but through this process we’ve realized that we really want to be close to Spiral and be part of the neighborhood that has already been so good to us. Our new plan is to purchase an empty lot right on Maganolia Ave, really close to Spiral. This will put us right in the middle of everything. Best of all we will be able to design the building exactly how we want and up to LEED standards. It’s very exciting.

The Citizen is also seeking investors from the community – head over to the Citizen web site to contact Amy about becoming one.

Aug 11, 2010 11

Foch Office Development

By: Kevin Buchanan

The redevelopment of the Quonset hut and adjacent warehouse structure on Foch near the West 7th development is well underway – here’s a recent photo of the project.  There have been quite a few questions on this project, and what I know now is that it’s an office space project, and the architect for the redevelopment is Cunningham Architects.

Here’s the warehouse structure next door being heavily renovated.

The development looks intriguing – clean and modern.  With one exception…

It looks like no sidewalks on the side street!  There have been a few redevelopments in the West 7th surroundings that have left out sidewalks, either completely or partially (Capital Bar, last we noticed, had no sidewalks in front).  That’s unacceptable in a redeveloping Urban Village setting – I’d hope more of these projects would take their pedestrian-oriented location into consideration and put in sidewalks on all sides.  As it stands now, outside of Cypress Equities property the sidewalk situation in this area – even on newly renovated properties – is disappointingly spotty.

Aug 9, 2010 Comments Off

West 7th Phase II Progress

By: Kevin Buchanan

Phase II of the West 7th development is well underway now.  This view, taken from on high looking southwest into the Phase II block, shows the materials being staged on the main site of the new loft/retail building, as well as excavation and construction work for the parking garage that will sit behind Fred’s.

This new construction at West 7th will fill out the last vacant block around the development’s signature intersection at Crockett & Currie, and will add 96 new loft apartments atop 25,000 square feet of new retail space.  About 75% of the original phase retail is leased, and the current lofts are 99% leased.  The project is, as before, a development of Cypress Equities.

Below is an elevation drawing of the second phase loft/retail building, as seen from the north (the main Crockett Street facade).

Aug 4, 2010 8

Stayton Construction Progress

By: Kevin Buchanan

The Stayton retirement condo development has really leapt up into prominence lately.  The easternmost tower is nearing its final height, with the center and westernmost towers not far behind.  This shot, taken from the levee nearby, shows the presence the development has coming down Stayton from 7th Street.

Jul 23, 2010 6

An Urban Jack in the Box, Because Why Not?

By: Kevin Buchanan

That, believe it or not, is a new-from-the-ground-up Jack in the Box.  It’s located on Berry Street, across from the GrandMarc and just down the street from places like Fuzzy’s and the new TCU bookstore.  It replaced a more typical suburban-style Jack in the Box on the same site.

Whatever one’s opinion of Jack in the Box as a place to eat, we have to give them kudos for building a store that actually fits into the more pedestrian-oriented goals of the Berry Street makeover.  This new store is right up on the sidewalk, has street-facing entrances, patio dining out front, plenty of windows on the street, and an at least somewhat interesting street facade design.  It’s not perfect (we’d have preferred it be more level with the sidewalk at the corner), but given the typical fast food box, it’s darned near miraculous.

We’re guessing a lot of city and neighborhood pressure was needed to get this result, but we’re glad to see a company like Jack in the Box willing to build something pedestrian-oriented.  We’ve said many times that the programming of the retail spaces isn’t as important as getting the form of the building right, and this is a great example – a lot of our readers are probably not big Jack in the Box fans, but by building a properly urban structure the restaurant is at least being a good citizen of the streetscape and helping to create a better, pedestrian-enticing public realm.

Jul 14, 2010 4

MK’s Sushi Headed to West 7th

By: Kevin Buchanan

MK’s Sushi, which looks to have gotten its start in Bedford, is headed for Cypress Equities’ West 7th development.  It’s been added to the West 7th web site, with an address of 2801 W. 7th – that’s roughly in the ground floor of the office/retail building at 7th & Foch, according to Google Maps.

MK’s menu appears to be pretty well-rounded, including several vegetarian options.  No word just yet on an opening date.

Jun 30, 2010 1

West 7th Concert Tonight

By: Kevin Buchanan

The West 7th development is putting on a free concert tonight at Crockett & Norwood, in one of the few undeveloped lots of their project.  Starting at 6:00 PM, they’ll be showcasing acts both local and from the larger Texas area.  The lineup is thus:

6:00 PM:  Kevin Aldridge of Chatterton
7:00 PM:  Luke Wade
8:00 PM:  Doug Moreland

Bring blankets and lawn chairs.  Terra Mediterranean Grill will be selling food and drink.  Other participating merchants include Pure Bliss Therapeutic Massage, LA Fitness, Yofé Fresh Fruit & Yogurt Cafe, Backwoods, Paciugo, and Toni & Guy.

Jun 25, 2010 1

Aggarwal Building Lofts

By: Kevin Buchanan

Finally got the chance to take a look at the lofts upstairs above Dr. Aggarwal’s office, located on Lipscomb just north of Rosedale.  The Near Southside’s NS-T4-N zoning in many areas of the district requires residential in some form (either all residential or residential and something else).  As a result, many of these small mixed-use infill buildings are popping up all over the district, usually with a doctor’s office downstairs and 2-4 apartments upstairs.

The Aggarwal building was designed by the Near Southside’s own TMA Architects, who have designed many of these small mixed-use buildings (their own offices are in such a building on Pennsylvania).  Upstairs has four lofts (three are still available) of various sizes around 700 square feet, with rents at about $1.00 per square foot.  We took a walk through all three remaining lofts.

Click the photos below for a larger view.  If you or somebody you know is interested in living here, it looks to use like a cool project – the lofts are really attractive (love the exposed wood ceilings), and the building’s only a short walk from Magnolia Avenue (about a block or two, depending on how you count things) and just down the street from Magnolia Green Park.  For more information, call 817-734-6475 or 972-849-8216.

Jun 24, 2010 4

West 7th Phase II Underway

By: Kevin Buchanan

Left-to-right:  Michael Wheat (Cypress Equities Senior Vice President of Leasing), Fernando Costa (Fort Worth Assistant City Manager for Infrastructure Services), Dale Fisseler (Fort Worth City Manager), Bill Thornton (President and CEO of the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce), Tom Higgins (Fort Worth Assistant City Manager for Economic and Community Development), Kirk Williams (Cypress Equities Senior Vice President of Development), John Fainter (Cypress Equities Vice President of Development), and Joel Burns (Fort Worth City Council Member District 9).

Phase II of the West 7th development by Cypress Equities officially got underway today with a groundbreaking attended by several Cypress and Fort Worth city officials.  Phase II’s site is the “southeast block”, bounded by Currie, Crockett, and Foch, with a parking garage that will go behind Fred’s to the south.

The next phase of West 7th is comprised of 96 new loft apartments on the upper floors above 25,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space.  The additional residential and retail space comes thanks in part to the strong leasing of the original phase – around 75% of the original retail space is leased, and the loft apartments in the first phase are 99% leased.

Below is a rendering of the new phase, showing the new building’s Crockett facade.  Click to embiggen:

The new building is of complimentary style to those on the other three blocks from Phase I, and will fully complete the Crockett & Currie intersection, where unique corner elements come together in the center of the project.  Additional renderings of Phase II can be found in the gallery below.  Hats off to Cypress for keeping the project rolling during rough economic times – we’re looking forward to seeing Phase II rise.

Jun 24, 2010 5

A Look at a New Fairmount Bungalow

By: Kevin Buchanan

Here’s something more cheerful for you – our friend Joe Frank, a local developer who has done a number of infill bungalows in the Fairmount National Historic District (where new construction must fit in with the historic buildings) and has been expanding into mixed-use buildings, has completed a cute new bungalow on a vacant lot on Lipscomb that we got the chance to look through.  The bungalow is around 1408 square feet, and listed for $188,000 (it’s sold now).

We love looking at infill projects like this – they reinforce something we’ve been banging on about for a long time:  urban living encompasses an incredibly wide selection of housing types, from condos in skyscrapers to converted lofts to street-oriented detached homes and everything in between.  Urbanity isn’t about height – it’s about how building interact with the street and their surroundings and how we design neighborhoods that allow a diverse assortment of housing types, building uses, and transportation methods.

Anyway, here’s a few photos from Joe’s new house, along with a shot of its new owners.  You can learn more about Joe’s infill bungalows at his site, fortworthbungalow.com.

Jun 23, 2010 5

Councilman Zimmerman Issues Statement on Ridglea Theater

By: Kevin Buchanan

District 3 Council Member Zimmerman has issued the following statement about the Ridglea Theater:

Over the past several days, the District 3 Office has received numerous phone calls and e-mails regarding the fate of the Ridglea Theater. We’ve heard a great number of concerns, and I share many of those. The Ridglea Theater has been an important part of the Camp Bowie landscape, and citizens have a strong connection with this landmark. Unfortunately, the future of this property has been uncertain for quite some time.

All things considered, it’s important that we strike a balance between preserving the character of this community while at the same time encouraging positive redevelopment. This is a delicate balance, but it can be achieved.

Bank of America has shown interest in the Ridglea Theater. That’s good news. And while the proposed plans to remodel the building into a bank office would adhere to its present multi-use zoning designation, Bank of America has shown a willingness to be a good partner and consider preserving the building’s façade, including its marquee and tower. Although Bank of America has not yet purchased this property, we greatly appreciate their interest in maintaining the character of this important part of our city. Nothing has been finalized, but we will continue to work closely with Bank of America, city officials and the residents of the surrounding community to work toward a positive outcome.

I think I’m seeing that Council Member Zimmerman and the rest of us are approaching this from two very different positions.

He says we have to “encourage positive development,” and takes that to mean ripping out a mixed-use development featuring a live theater and replacing it with a Bank of America branch. The many, many folks who want to see the Ridglea saved do not consider that an example of “positive development,” for a variety of reasons. You’ve got the loss to Fort Worth’s indie music scene – local bands replaced with BoA employees. You’ve got the loss of another single-screen movie theater, a handful of which still remain in the city – a detriment to the city’s connection with an important social and cultural facet of its past. You’ve got the loss of a major historic structure on Camp Bowie that truly sets the architectural stage for several of the historic structures around it – an architectural loss. Hiding all this behind the “well, they’d keep the facade” argument just results in a hollow, false identity covering up another generic bank.

He also says the proposed bank branch would “adhere to the present multi-use zoning,” which is completely untrue unless BoA plans to be running a live music theater in their bank lobby. I’m not certain that “mixed-use zoning” and “Urban Village program” mean what he thinks they mean. My understanding is that the project would demolish all of the Ridglea except the facade, and would also demolish the adjoining office & retail building. The new construction behind the mask of the Ridglea facade would be a BoA branch, while the space currently occupied by the office/retail building would become…a parking lot.

Going from a complex with a live theater, offices, and retail space to a single-use bank branch is in no way “adhering to the present multi-use zoning.” It’ll just be…a bank. That’s one use. Parking does not constitute a second use.

The Ridglea area is designated by the City of Fort Worth as an Urban Village. The city’s web site states that the purpose of the Urban Village program is thus:

Urban Villages are small geographic areas (usually one square mile) zoned for dense, multiple-use development that is mass-transit and pedestrian friendly.

Parks, business, entertainment, homes, and stores — all within walking distance of each other in an area with a consistent look and feel that emphasizes the culture and heritage of those who call it home. A city within a city.

The City of Fort Worth is working with developers, business groups and neighborhood associations to revitalize older commercial districts using capital improvements, mixed-use zoning and economic incentives to help urban villages throughout the Central City.

In no way does the demolition of a historic mixed-use project for its replacement by a single-use bank building with a big new parking lot meet any of the goals of the Urban Village program. Put simply: by the city’s own stated goals for this area, this is a bad deal.

“Bank of America has shown interest in the Ridglea Theater. That’s good news.” Frankly, I think that’s horrible news, councilman. Why are we approaching this from the standpoint that “Bank of America ruining a historic theater & mixed-use building” is good news? That is an unacceptable baseline for the citizens of this city who want to see this beautiful building complex saved. New development along that stretch of Camp Bowie has been trending in a generic suburban-bank-branches-and-chain-restaurants way for a while now, and continuing that trend rather than pursuing the sort of development that the city itself says it wants to see in the area doesn’t strike me as progress, nor does development of another generic national corporate bank branch to replace something with real through-and-through local character and heritage strike me as progress.  In my opinion, this is a bad, bad deal – the loss of architectural value, the loss of cultural value, the loss of built heritage, the loss to Fort Worth’s music scene, and the creation of an inappropriate development form in a designated Urban Village.

I’d also like to add that, in a document dated October 2007 that outlines the master plan of the Ridglea Urban Village (PDF link), the following statement relating to Council Member Zimmerman’s predecessor, the late Chuck Silcox, can be found:

After a discussion of future uses for Ridglea Theater, Council Member Silcox said he would request that the City begin the historic designation process for the structure.

It seems even Chuck Silcox wanted to keep the Ridglea intact.  Clearly, the Fort Worth city government has dropped the ball.

I hope you’ll all keep telling the City Council how bad an idea this is. Keep e-mailing them and telling them to designate the Ridglea as a Historic & Cultural Landmark. Not all new development is good development. Even I, Mr. Let’s Build Cool New Stuff Dork, know that to be true. I’d like to think that Fort Worth has more ambition and creative value than to let such a wonderful historic resource like the Ridglea get consumed by a generic bank branch.

Jun 23, 2010 9

Ridglea Theater Follow-up

By: Kevin Buchanan

I wanted to collect a few bits & pieces here following up on yesterday’s awful news about the Ridglea Theater.

A lot of people have asked me how we could go about saving the building.  While banging on Bank of America over this is certainly not pointless, if you want my own opinion, the biggest power to save the Ridglea rests on the Fort Worth City Council.  The council has the power to designate the Ridglea as a “Historic & Cultural Landmark” (keep that term in mind when you contact them).  A Historic & Cultural Landmark designation is one of the highest forms of protection the city of Fort Worth can give to a building, and helps prevent demolition (there is a lower level, “Demolition Delay,” which is really rather toothless in that it only delays demolition for 180 days and has no real protection).  In fact, it’s been attempted before to designate the Ridglea.

The Designation Subcommittee of the Historic & Cultural Landmarks Commission recommended the Ridglea and its adjoining office/retail building to the City Council for Historic & Cultural Landmark designation late last year (full disclosure – I’m on the Designation Subcommittee and was involved in the efforts to designate the building at the time).  A resolution to designate the Ridglea went to the City Council on November 17, 2009, with the following result:

Council Member Zimmerman made a motion, seconded by Council Member Hicks, that the Resolution be continued until the December 15, 2009, Council meeting. The motion carried unanimously nine (9) ayes to zero (0) nays.

Source (PDF Link)

Council Member Zimmerman, for the uninitiated, is the representative of District 3, the Ridglea’s district.  The reasoning for continuing the vote likely happened behind closed doors before the council meeting.  Jump forward to the December 15, 2009 council meeting, and the result was this:

City Manager Fisseler requested that Agenda Item XIII (1) relative to a resolution nominating the Ridglea Theatre as Historic and Cultural Landmark, be withdrawn from consideration and that Mayor and Council Communication No. G-16804 be continued until the January 26, 2010, Council meeting.

Source (PDF Link)

Again, no further information is available, and the deliberating likely happened behind closed doors.  As near as I can tell, the resolution never appeared again on the City Council’s radar, and now we’ve got plans to demolish the theater, its office/retail building, and build a Bank of America branch behind the skeleton of the Ridglea’s facade.

(There’s some talk of the initial delay being due to wanting to talk to the building’s owners, but if that’s the case and the resolution was removed at the next meeting with no public discussion, that just goes to show how weak the city government is on preservation.)

As I said, perhaps the best hope of saving the Ridglea would be for the City Council to designate it a Historic & Cultural Landmark – just know that it’s an uphill battle, judging from the results above.  I’m not trying to be a downer, just realistic.  Even in the best of cases, preservation is difficult in Fort Worth – the city government doesn’t take it seriously, and oftentimes the results are apathetic.  It’s especially tough in times of budget shortfalls.

This is the way the game is played, though, so it’s up to Ridglea supporters to write to the City Council (all the City Council, and particularly Council Member Zimmerman, since it’s his district) and ask that the council designate the Ridglea as a Historic & Cultural Landmark.

Zim Zimmerman – 817-392-8803 - District3@fortworthgov.org
Mayor – Mike Moncrief – 817-392-6118 – mike.moncrief@fortworthgov.org
Mayor Pro Tem – Danny Scarth – 817-392-6187 –District4@fortworthgov.org
Sal Espino –  817-392-8802 – District2@fortworthgov.org
Frank Moss – 817-392-8805 – District5@fortworthgov.org
Jungus Jordan – 817-392-8806 – District6@fortworthgov.org
Carter Burdette – 817-392-8807 – District7@fortworthgov.org
Kathleen Hicks – 817-392-8808 – District8@fortworthgov.org
Joel Burns – 817-392-8809 – District9@fortworthgov.org

This leads us into another question I’ve heard a lot – why can’t Bank of America use the existing two-story office & retail building that would be destroyed by the new plan?

The answer is:  they probably could.  This isn’t something that’s falling over – it’s also in active use.  I’m instantly skeptical when a giant multinational says they “can’t” use a historic building for whatever reason.  The problem is, they don’t want to.  It’s an issue that is epidemic in the United States, and springs in part from the way these large companies operate (especially the way they build in the far-flung suburbs).  They design a basic stock building design or two that’s stamped out with a virtual cookie cutter across the country, and any deviation from the basic design is extremely rare.

Take a look – almost every new bank branch looks exactly the same as every other new bank branch of the same brand.  Sometimes, a token gesture of “fitting in” with the neighborhood will be made in the form of a different trim color or material, but it’s just simple dressing on the same shell.  Drug stores are especially bad about this – the average Walgreens or CVS is exactly the same as every other example, with just a thin candy coating of “uniqueness” sprinkled on top.

James Howard Kunstler spoke about this on his Kunstlercast show way back in 2008 with a good summary of the mindset (they’re talking about drug stores in particular, but the same sort of things apply to many big corporate chains with a suburban building mindset):

JHK:  Because of the sort of throwaway culture we live in, it’s more convenient for these big chains to just tear down whatever’s there and put up their own special purpose-built box with all of the things in the right place, so the building’s sort of pre-programmed.  It’s a machine for dispensing goods, it’s not even a building.  It just happens to come in a form that resembles a building.

…

Basically, if there’s a wonderful historic building that has, you know, 9,000 square feet of space, and the store needs 9,402 square feet of space, they’d rather knock down the historic building just to get exactly the right amount of space.

DC:  Yeah, there was a case in Albany, New York, where a drug store was purchasing an old school building, and next to the school building was a vacant lot.  And rather than rehab the school building and use the vacant lot as a parking lot, they wanted to knock down the school building for a parking lot, and build their building on the vacant lot.

JHK:  Pathetic.

If you want my personal opinion, I’d want to see Bank of America rehab the existing two-story office/retail building for their purposes, and leave the Ridglea Theater alone.  Or, go somewhere else in the Ridglea Village area and build an infill project that supports the goals of the Ridglea Urban Village designation the city has given – something that is arrayed to walkability and higher density.

So, there we are.  It’s my opinion that the Ridglea more than qualifies as something to save, both for the architectural value of both the theater and office building, their importance in setting the stage for the other historic buildings around the area, the theater’s cultural historical significance as one of our few remaining single-screen theaters, and its current and ongoing cultural value as one of a few outlets of Fort Worth’s independent music scene.  I hope a lot of you agree.

Jun 22, 2010 50

UPDATED: Ridglea Theater and Office Building Doomed to Demolition by Bank of America

By: Kevin Buchanan

Photo by John T. Roberts

Terrible news for Fort Worth historic preservation:  the Ridglea Theater, one of only a handful of remaining single-screen movie theaters in Fort Worth, and its adjacent office building would be nearly entirely demolished under a plan from Bank of America, who want to demolish everything but the facade of the theater and build a new bank branch on the site behind the facade.

It’s yet another black mark on Fort Worth’s track record of historic preservation, which (despite what City Hall would have you believe) is incredibly poor.  The Ridglea has no protection of any kind, not even Demolition Delay.  Historic Fort Worth added the Ridglea, along with the other remaining single-screen theaters, to their Most Endangered list this year.

The Ridglea has for years served as a live music venue, and still does, playing host especially to Fort Worth’s metal scene.  That track record of active use makes the comments from the Ridglea’s district’s council member, “Zim” Zimmerman, even more puzzling.  Zimmerman is quoted in the above DFW.com article as saying:

“The interior is [in] very poor shape, probably not worth the cost of rehab.”

What’s puzzling is that not only has the Ridglea been in active use for years (and is in fact still in active use), but having been inside it ourselves in the not too distant past, it hardly looked anywhere near as bad as indicated above.  We’ve seen theaters in far, far worse condition be restored and go on to live healthy lives.  Seems a very odd statement to make considering the Ridglea is in better shape than a lot of historic buildings that have been successfully rehabbed in Fort Worth and it’s still being used.

What’s doubly unnerving about the proposal at the Ridglea is that just down the road a short distance is an example of a bank that went into a historic single-screen theater and actually kept it intact – the Frost Bank that occupies the former Bowie Theater:

Photo by John T. Roberts

Seems to us that Bank of America is not such a one-of-a-kind flower that they couldn’t pull off something similar at the Ridglea, saving the building for other future uses.

Single-screen theaters in Fort Worth are an extremely endangered breed.  There’s the old Bowie (now the Frost Bank), the vacant Berry, the Ridglea, the New Isis, and only a tiny handful of others in various states of decay.  While Fort Worth likes to think of itself as being different from Dallas, in terms of preservation we’re right there next to our neighbors to the east.  This city does not take historic preservation seriously.  We’d hope that the city council would take this new threat to one of our few single-screen theaters as a wake-up call to stand up for preserving more of our built heritage – but how likely is that?

We hope a lot of you out there would contact the city council and express your disappointment in the sorry state of historic preservation in this city and this latest failure to save one of our rare single-screen theaters.

UPDATE: The management of the Ridglea (not the owner – the folks who run the music venue) have released the following statement on their web site, and are urging people to write to the City Council (especially District 3 representative Zim Zimmerman) and the Zoning Commission to express their displeasure with the proposal to demolish everything but the Ridglea’s facade for a bank branch:

As you may have heard, the previous owner of the Ridglea Theater complex lost the building to FixFunding, LLC, a funding company based in Dallas. The complex has been up for sale and may have already been sold to a bank. Richard has shown the Ridglea to their “team” of architects more than once.

However, the City of Fort Worth has requested that IF FOLKS DO NOT LIKE THE PROPOSED ZONING CHANGE, THEY SHOULD LET CITY COUNCILMAN W.B. “ZIM” ZIMMERMAN AND THE FORT WORTH CITY COUNCIL KNOW IMMEDIATELY!

Richard and I would love to get this stopped – not because of what we do here (after all, we need to retire sometime) but simply because this is the last of the grand old buildings in Fort Worth. It would be a shame to lose part of the heritage of Fort Worth, and it should be preserved! The paintings are original! The mosaic floor could never be replaced, and the structure itself inside is beautiful. Of course the present owners are probably not interested in the history, and I can see their point – they are in the business of making money.

This is going to hit the newspapers immediately, and we would like to let our loyal supporters know what is going on! It’s HORRID!!!! Our lease runs into early next spring, so we hope we can stay at least that long.

Meanwhile, it’s BUSINESS AS USUAL! Ridglea Theater needs the local support now more than ever. Please contact the Fort Worth City Council, and let them know how much you want the Ridglea Theater to stay!

If you would like to help support the preservation of Ridglea Theater, please use the contact information below to make your voice heard.

City Councilman W.B. Zimmerman
District 3 Office
1000 Throckmorton St.
Fort Worth, Texas 76102
Telephone: 817-392-8803
Fax: 817-392-6187
E-mail:District3@fortworthgov.org

Jun 21, 2010 3

New Public Market Pursuing Weekly Farmers Market on Magnolia Avenue

By: Kevin Buchanan

The New Public Market, which we wrote about recently in a larger post about urban agriculture & local food culture in Fort Worth, has an eventual goal of leasing the historic Public Market building on Henderson to serve as a market once again.  So far, they’ve been holding a monthly market day at Into the Garden on Camp Bowie, but after speaking with Sally Birthisel from the group, it turns out they’ve got another project in mind – one that would be very cool for the Near Southside.

If they can get together $2,500 in funds for permits and the initial food purchase, the group plans a weekly Farmers Market on Magnolia Avenue in the Near Southside.  The market would be held on the lot between the Chat Room and JJ Robb Real Estate, on Magnolia between Lake and 5th Avenue.  We can only imagine how popular such a market would become with Near Southside residents, especially right in the heart of one of the most active parts of Magnolia.

Obviously, one of the ways they do this is membership, which starts at $25 per year.  For more information, check out the New Public Market site.  We wish them luck – we’d love to see a Farmers Market every week in a location that’s easily walkable and bikeable.

Jun 17, 2010 3

Food Carts (of a Sort) in the Near Southside?

By: Kevin Buchanan

We got an interesting e-mail from a reader today letting us know that a food cart (or more accurately, a food trailer) has come to the Near Southside.  Here’s JP’s letter about the new food cart next to Gordon Boswell Florist that’s been created by the Chef Point restaurant from Watauga:

Are you familiar with Chef Point (Watauga’s popular restaurant inside a gas station)?  In an effort to expand their business to Ft. Worth, they are experimenting with a food cart (well… “trailer” actually) in the Near Southside every Wednesday afternoon for lunch from 11:00 – 3:00.  They are occupying that parking space next to the Gordon Boswell Florist, across from Harris Hospital on Pennsylvania Avenue.  Today was their first day, and without doing much advertising, business was relatively quiet when I popped by a little before 1:00.

They offer many of the same items you can find inside their original restaurant:  burgers, sandwiches, fried chicken, chicken fried steak, pastas, salads, and soups (although neither lobster bisque nor clam chowder seemed appealing in the 100 degree + parking lot today).  They also have their delicious bread pudding for dessert.  I wish patrons would petition that they bring their vegetable quiche to the mobile restaurant.  It’s definitely one of the best meals I’ve ever had… from a gas station, no less.

I thought Chef Point’s food truck might have been in response to last month’s Food Network extravaganza where all those food carts stopped off in Ft. Worth on their race across the country (part of a new reality show).  Actually, according to their chef, this mobile restaurant project has been in the works for nearly a year.

Here’s hoping it leads to more of the same!  As you’ve mentioned on your blog several times, I think our city is ready for more mobile food vendors.  I’ve really enjoyed them in walkable cities like Portland — as well as larger sprawls like L.A.  It’d be great to see people supporting Chef Point in an effort to promote the food cart culture here in Fort Worth.

So – has anybody else out there stumbled across the Chef Point trailer while out and about in the Near Southside on Wednesdays?  We can’t help but imagine that food carts might attract more of a draw somewhere on Magnolia, where there’s at least some foot traffic from more than just one hospital, but it’s still an interesting development.

Jun 16, 2010 6

Dunn-Haven Building Restoration Progress

By: Kevin Buchanan

The lovely old Dunn-Haven Apartments building at Adams & Magnolia in the Near Southside is well on its way to a new life.  The building is being extensively restored and redeveloped into the headquarters of a marketing company relocating from Arlington.  The building’s getting a complete makeover, from new windows and exterior restoration work to a new interior, new elevator (being built inside the building rather than as an addition due to the difficulty of matching the unique brick color), and more.

The Dunn-Haven building is one of the older structures in the area, having been built in 1914. It shows elements of various styles, including the Prairie School. It is of a configuration not common in this area, with its three stories and full porches at each level. A similar structure can be found in the nearby Fairmount neighborhood south of Magnolia, the currently also-vacant Bomar Apartments at 1507 Alston, built in 1907.

While we’re disappointed that the Dunn-Haven building will no longer have a residential use (Magnolia desperately needs a lot more residential units than it has now to help add to street activity and multiple uses), we are pleased that it’s going to be serving a creative company instead of YAMO – Yet Another Medical Office.  It’s our understanding that the restoration is going to be extensive and first-rate, complete with new sustainable features included in the project, so it’s going to be good to see one of Magnolia’s prettiest buildings brought back to life.  Click the photos for a larger view.

Jun 15, 2010 Comments Off

Hyde Park & 9th Street Improvements

By: Kevin Buchanan

If you’ve been down around 9th Street in Downtown lately, you’ve undoubtedly noticed that the street has been shut down for construction.  Here’s a look at what’s going on.

9th Street itself is being reconstructed to create a more pedestrian-friendly experience walking from the Intermodal Transportation Center at 9th & Jones into the heart of Downtown.  The length of 9th from Jones to Houston will feature wider sidewalks, brick sidewalk pavers, Cedar Elm street trees, and pedestrian lighting once complete.  Above is an example section.

Where 9th runs into Houston, even more elaborate work is underway.

The long awaited remake of Hyde Park, and the reclamation of a parking lot into public space, is finally happening.  9th Street is going to be straightened out between Houston and Throckmorton into a conventional “T” intersection.  In addition, the parking lot that has blighted the other side of 9th & Throckmorton across from Hyde Park (where once the old Fort Worth Public Library once stood) is going away as well.  Several improvements come along with this:

  • A – Passenger Shelters – The T will be installing new bus passenger shelters on either side of 9th to create a new transit plaza sort of setup.
  • B – Intersection Improvements – 9th ends at Throckmorton in a conventional “T” intersection.
  • C – Panther Fountain Plaza – The space around the Panther Fountain in Hyde Park will be radically expanded, creating a much larger public space around the iconic fountain in the shadow of the Flatiron Building.
  • D – Library Plaza – What’s left of the old library lot, up until now simply a vacant blight with a parking lot, will become another new public space next to the Houston Place Lofts and the Bryce Building.

Something not called out in the above graphic is another significant public space improvement.  What is now a street in front of the Public Safety & Courts Building (the previous Fort Worth City Hall) will be removed, and converted into a plaza in front of the lovely old Moderne structure.

In all, it’s a significant upgrade of public space in Downtown Fort Worth, something that apart from sidewalks is in very short supply.  We’d hope that some thought is being given to doing something to engage and activate all the new plazas – besides the new Hyde Park, Library Plaza, and PS&C Plaza, there’s also the existing Federal Building plaza that’s a bit on the overscaled and empty side.  If the city and downtown stakeholders want to see more use of these plazas, we hope they’d consider encouraging food vendors, etc. to set up shop to make up for the lack of ground-floor retail space around them (and something a bit more interesting than just a hot dog cart).  We’d also hope that the doctor who owns the Flatiron Building would consider leasing its ground floor to a restaurant or other sort of business – with its large, operable ground-floor windows, it could make a great addition to the plazas.

The 9th Street improvements are also welcome, and makes getting to the ITC much more appealing.  The experience of walking along 9th isn’t going to be great for a while, as there’s still the hulk of the Convention Center arena and the underused and flawed General Worth Square, not to mention a swath of parking lots between the ITC and the rest of Downtown that create a lot of dead space to cover.

And this all does beg the question – when, if ever, will Throckmorton (and the other one-way streets) revert to two-way?  It’s a bit of an impediment to westward travel in the new arrangement, and two-way streets are generally better in terms of creating pleasant streets that pedestrians enjoy being on.  There are still far too many one-way speedways in Downtown Fort Worth.

On the whole, though, this looks to be a good improvement.  A parking lot is going away, there’s a lot more (and decently designed) public space coming to Downtown Fort Worth, and 9th Street itself will become a much more pleasant place to walk apart from the dead spots along its length.  We really look forward to seeing the finished product.

Jun 11, 2010 2

Chunduri Building Progress

By: Kevin Buchanan

Progress on yet another small mixed-use infill building in the Near Southside.  The building above (which we’re calling the Chunduri Building after the doctor whose office will take the ground floor) is being built just off Jennings at Grainger & Cannon.  The building is ground-floor office space with second-floor apartments.

Click the photos to embiggen.

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