Fort Worth - Historic Buildings/Urban Decay

You know me and urban decay. I love it - because oftentimes the building in decay has a story. And it needs to be told.

I spotted this gem on the way back from the dinner with MQ and got really excited. I had spotted the neighboring building from afar but hadn't yet ventured over there to check it out. After being up unexpectedly early on Sunday, I decided to take a walk.

First, is this beauty:

This is the Texas and Pacific Railway Passenger terminal. Designed by Wyatt C Hedrick in1931, it was 12 stories of offices and an Art Deco station. The last train stopped in 1967 and saved from demolition in 1980s. In 1999, the lobby was restored because it was going to be used as a depot for a commuter rail. In 2003, the office floors were converted into lofts and reopened in 2006. From best I could tell, the restored lobby is now used for special events. I wish I had been able to take a closer look at the restored interior, but since it was a residential building, I did not want to ask.

Between this and the next building of interest was this classic Post Office. Here it is, bathed in warm morning light:

But this is the gem… the one I was so dang excited about. This is the "adjoining" Texas and Pacific Warehouse. "Adjoining" if you count being separated by a block that is occupied by the Post Office. This is also designed by Wyatt Hedirck. This was primarily intended as a warehouse/showroom, office space and storage. Unlike its counterpart, it did not receive the renovation attention and has sat vacant, probably since the 1960s. According to an urban exploration page, it had a brief life as a haunted house and a paintball location but is now fairly sealed up on the ground floor. Most of the windows are busted out, apparently the basement is full of water and another article suggest there is a tree growing on the roof.

Here's just a few images of the outside before I get to my favorite things - windows and doors:

Isn't it a beauty? It's such a shame that this building has been left to rot. Why not restore it into office buildings? That being said, it is still beautiful in its decline. There were 48 bays, still with doors intact. They made for beautiful pictures:

Windows:

So happy. But I would be happier if it restored to glory. I imagined this is what the Cotton Belt Rail Depot (in St Louis) might've looked like in its heyday.

It was a very satisfying way to end my exploration in Fort Worth.

Fort Worth - Fountains

If you know me well, you know that I love water. I must've been a fish or some other thing that lived in or enjoyed the water in a past life. One thing that I love is a waterfall. Exciting when it is natural but just as cool when it is man-made. Right next door to my hotel (and the convention center) is a HUGE water garden called, well, the Fort Worth Water Garden. It was glorious. It has THREE different types of fountains. This garden is 4.3 acres of gloriousness built in 1974.

The first is what they call the Active Pool. it also seems like the biggest. You can actually climb all the way to the bottom (I never did).

The second is the Quiet Pool. The water literally quietly spills over and slides straight down walls. It's exceedingly peaceful.

The third was broken the first day I was there, but it was fixed quickly. It's called the Aerated Pool and it is literally high pressure sprinklers. When I was photographing it during the daytime, I thought I saw lighting underneath and I was right. It swirled all the way through the rainbow. I experimented with shutter speed a little with this one. It's lovely, no? Two of the lights didn't want to cooperate the entire time but I think I managed to miss most of those.

Isn't this glorious? It was perfect! But what is even better is the discovery that will be the center focus of tomorrow's post. I'm very excited about that one. Stay tuned!

Fort Worth - Downtown

Fort Worth's downtown proper is quite intimate by my standards. I can traverse it relatively quickly and the blocks are smaller than I was expecting. To me, it seems like a decent blend of older, historic buildings that were built with decorative enhancements and modern high-rises. Later on in the conference, I learned that a tornado had whipped through downtown 14 years ago and I really couldn't see any major signs of the damage.

One can say I "Flooded" downtown Fort Worth twice over the six day period while I sought fresh air and enjoyed my brief walks very much.

When I was scouting hotels, I discovered this building on Google Maps and wanted to find it immediately. It actually found me, sort of. I spotted it on the way back from dinner with a colleague.

 

It was built in the early 1900s and has recently been renovated. I'm all for reviving historic vacant buildings!

Isn't the detail gorgeous?

I'm too tired and brain-full to do much in depth research on these buildings but at a quick glance, all the historical, older buildings seem to have thriving tenants in them.

I found some other buildings on the other side of downtown, but I'm saving those for Day 4.

Day 3 includes a very cool water garden that was right in-between the two buildings I spent most of my time in! Me + water = happy Ann. I don't necessarily have to be swimming in it to be happy.

Fort Worth - Sunrise/Sunset

I recently spent just under a week in Ft. Worth, TX. I lived in Houston for a few years and have visited Dallas before, but never made it to Ft. Worth.

It was a busy week since I was there for professional development at a conference but I still found a few moments, here and there, to walk around with the camera in hand. I narrowed it down to 106 photos over 6 days. I've divided them into four groups - sunrise/sunset, downtown, fountains and urban decay/historic buildings. So this is the first in a four-part series.

My hotel room was on the 11th floor - and though it didn't have the view of the downtown I was hoping for, I had a wonderful 'front row seat' to some beautiful sunrises.

And one beautiful sunset caught on a cloud:



You can check out a few more in my set "Fort Worth".

What's next? Check back and see!