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.

Exploring Downtown St Louis - Through New Eyes

One of our latest photo floods (with Photo Flood STL) was in downtown St. Louis. We have set map borders but I didn't fully pay attention to where we were going. I usually hang with the group's creator and his wife, so I kind of just followed them. We actually ended up in one of my favorite places in St. Louis. It's where urban decay beauty abounds.

I've obviously been there before, but I captured some great images that late afternoon/evening:

And my favorite!

You'll be seeing this one again soon...

Urban Decay in St. Louis - Wright/Arcade

The great/bad thing about St. Louis is that there are many beautiful buildings that sit abandoned. In the case of this one, it had been abandoned for awhile (early 80s?) and had a recent attempt at rehab which came to a screeching halt when the company (Pyramid) collapsed. Arcade has a new buyer and hopefully will get rehabbed to its former glory soon.

The thing about the Arcade in its current state is that it is beautiful in its decay, yet I can't wait to see it back to what it was. What we call the Arcade building is actually two buildings connected with each other. The Wright building was built in 1906, and the Arcade building was built in 1919 and wraps around the existing Wright building. Inside, there are several floors that are not exactly at the same height and have small sets of stairs inbetween. A lot of the floors have beautiful white marble walls. The Arcade building had ground level stores and shops with a Gothic vaulted ceiling as well as a variety of other offices upstairs. Ranging from jewelers to a radio station to a law-oriented printing office. There seemed to be small factories, a music store, several doctor's offices and that's all we could tell from the 9 stories that hadn't been internally demo'd and stripped down to its bare bones.

I recently got a chance to tour the building prior to the new rehab attempt and I jumped at it. It was worth totally worth it, as you can see from the pictures.

To see all 133 photos from the set, check it out here. I really encourage you to do so, this is just a smattering of the gorgeous beauty within those walls.

                                   


                                                    

Can you believe it? You can see the potential, right? I cannot wait to see the finished product.