Wondering Why There Are No Plans To Build Fort Worth A New Skyscraper

This blogging is a variant of my popular series of bloggings about something I see in a west coast online news source, usually the Seattle Times, that I would not see in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

The variant is that this particular blogging is about something I regularly see in the Seattle Times which I rarely see in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

That being the announcement of some new big construction project.

Seems like hardly a week goes by without reading of some new construction project in downtown Seattle. Pike Place expansion. Residential towers. Mixed use towers. And projects like this skyscraper you see  here.

I've seen no new skyscrapers scrape the sky in Fort Worth since I have been in Texas. I think Dallas has added one or two.

I read yesterday that the Seattle area is currently the fastest growing zone in America, with the economy back in boom mode.

A booming economy would explain all the building projects, I suppose.

But, I thought I've read in the Star-Telegram that Fort Worth is growing fast. I don't think I've read that the local economy is booming though. Is that the reason for the static skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth?

The only semi-tall building I've seen constructed in Fort Worth since I have been in Texas is the Convention Center Hotel. That project did not come about via private enterprise building a hotel to accommodate all the tourists and convention goers flocking to Fort Worth. Due to the paucity of both, no private entity was interested in making that type hotel investment, so the local voters were snookered into helping pay for the hotel.

Since I have been in Texas I have witnessed several large construction projects in downtown Fort Worth.

Such as the Radio Shack Corporate Headquarters. To build that building eminent domain was abused to remove a public housing development. Due to building the Radio Shack Headquarters the big free Tandy parking lots were no longer usable. The world's shortest subway line was closed, making access to downtown Fort Worth no longer the easy thing it was prior to this debacle. The lack of easy parking has greatly reduced the number of times I have visited downtown Fort Worth ever since.

A short distance from the Radio Shack debacle we had the downtown campus of Tarrant County College debacle, a grandiose project, with an interesting design, thwarted in mid construction. In the midst of the Tarrant County College downtown campus boondoggle Radio Shack found it could no longer afford its new corporate headquarters. So, in a deal which made no sense to me, Tarrant County College, which had already spent hundreds of millions of dollars on their mangled downtown campus, then paid a few hundred more million to buy space in the Radio Shack building to use as their downtown campus, in a building which was not designed to be a school.

I tell you, Fort Worth has to be the "Boondoggle Capital  of the Free World".

That should be the town's catchy slogan, not "Where the West  Begins".

Adding to the roll of boondoggles, we have the Pier One Imports Corporate Headquarters. A beautiful building built on the spot where buildings were destroyed by a tornado. I don't remember how long Pier One Imports occupied their new headquarters before they, like Radio Shack, found out they could not afford it. The building was then sold to Chesapeake Energy to use as their satellite corporate headquarters from whence they ran their shadow Fort Worth city government during the reign of gas industry lackey, Mike Moncrief.

I don't know who owns the former Pier One Imports building now that Chesapeake Energy has taken the Walk of Shame out of Fort Worth.

If Fort Worth's economy is doing as well as the Star-Telegram propaganda-izes, how come we don't see more evidence of such?

We have America's Biggest Boondoggle currently stalled in slow motion, taking four years to build three little simple bridges from the mainland to an imaginary island, but not much else, except for an extensive music festival schedule taking place in, and beside, the Trinity River, a river which other parts of America would call the Trinity Slough, with no one thinking it a good idea to use as an inner tubing venue.

I'm sure some local would point to the West 7th area as evidence of Fort Worth's booming economy. Well, what I have seen in that area is extremely poor planning, with the area turning into a flooded lake when too much rain falls. The sidewalks are too narrow on West 7th, creating a canyon like effect that is not pleasant.

There is a lot of highway construction underway. Is that a sign of a booming local economy? Or one more sign of bad planning? The I-35 drive north from downtown Fort Worth has turned into an extremely unpleasant experience, particularly when you get past I-820.

I know there has been some effort to have some sort of train transit running from downtown Fort Worth to Grapevine, and, I think, the north entry to D/FW International. But, that project seems to be a lot of talk and little action.

If Fort Worth ever does actually have itself a booming economy do you think maybe sidewalks could be added to more of the city's streets? And maybe get rid of all the outhouses in all the parks and install modern restroom facilities with running water to replace the outhouses?

We have all recently witnessed how fast the South can change when properly motivated. Could not the Fort Worth outhouses go as quickly as the Confederate flag? We can only hope....

I Can No Longer Trespass On Fort Worth's Chesapeake Plaza Or Ride The Fort Worth Subway

Today I decided to take one of my semi-regularly scheduled walks around my neighborhood, with Albertsons my eventual destination.

The NO TRESPASSING VIOLATORS WILL BE PROSECUTED sign you see on the left has perplexed me for quite some time.

To the east, up the hill to the right of the sign, sits my neighborhood Chesapeake Energy gas pad site.

I have not seen a No Trespassing sign at the Chesapeake gas pad site. So why is there a No Trespassing sign on this vacant lot?

Speaking of Chesapeake Energy. The big Chesapeake news of the day is that Chesapeake Plaza is no more in downtown Fort Worth.

Earlier in this century Pier 1 Imports built a corporate headquarters the company could not afford. So, Pier 1 Imports sold the corporate headquarters it could not afford to Chesapeake Energy, after which Pier 1 Imports leased space from Chesapeake.

At the height of its corruption of the Fort Worth city government, during the reign of gas industry lapdog, Mike Moncrief, Chesapeake Energy pretty much ran a shadow city government out of the building it bought from Pier 1 Imports.

Chesapeake Energy has now fallen on hard times and is selling off assets, including the building it bought from Pier 1 Imports. Chesapeake sold the building to a Houston real estate company named Hines. Hines has renamed Chesapeake Plaza as the Pier 1 Imports Building.

Chesapeake Energy will now lease space from Hines, joining Pier 1 Imports as renters in the building each once owned.

What is the deal with corporations based in Fort Worth building corporate headquarters which soon upon completion the corporation finds out the corporation can not afford?

The worst case of this phenomenon is obviously the Radio Shack Corporate Headquarters fiasco, which eventually morphed with the Tarrant County College downtown campus boondoggle, which had the college buying the Radio Shack Corporate Headquarters to turn into a college for which the building was not designed.

If I remember right Radio Shack now rents space from Tarrant County College in the corporate headquarters Radio Shack could not afford.

American Airlines is based in Fort Worth. It never occurred to me, til now, that I have no idea where the American Airlines Corporate Headquarters is located. Is it out near D/FW airport? I know Fort Worth somehow manages to gerrymander all the way to the south entry to the airport.

Downtown Fort Worth lost a lot when it went along with the Radio Shack Corporate Headquarters fiasco. Eminent domain was abused, tax breaks were given.

But worse than eminent domain abuse and shady tax breaks was the loss of big, free parking lots at the north end of downtown. Along with the big parking lots also lost was the world's shortest subway line. The subway made it so easy to get to the heart of downtown Fort Worth by parking at one of the parking lots and then hopping on the free rickety old subway car that deposited you inside the Tandy Tower.

I seldom go to downtown Fort Worth anymore, what with parking being a nuisance. Before the destruction of the Tandy Subway I frequently frequented downtown Fort Worth. At that point in time a vertical mall actually existed in the Tandy Tower. With an ice rink. I don't think enough people live in downtown Fort Worth for a vertical mall to survive.

Even now, well over a decade later, not enough people live in downtown Fort Worth for the downtown to have a grocery store. Or a department store. Fort Worth's is the only downtown in America, in a town with a population over 500,000, with no department store or grocery store.

Fort Worth's somewhat sleepy downtown would likely be more lively if the Tandy parking lots and subway had not been killed.

What a stupid mistake for a town to make....

Finding A Ripley Arnold Revisionist Historical Marker At One Of Fort Worth's Boondoggle Confluences

On my walkabout in the downtown Fort Worth zone the day after Thanksgiving, near the area where the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle encourages people to go float in the Trinity River, I came upon the historical marker type installation you see on the left.

Due to the sun being too bright, and the text contrast on the sign being too slight, I was unable to read this sign til I got it off my camera and onto my computer.

The text was unreadable in the bright sun, but I was able to tell that this historical marker was about the Ripley Arnold public housing development which I thought had been destroyed by eminent domain abuse by the City of Fort Worth and Radio Shack, so that Radio Shack could have land to build a new corporate headquarters Radio Shack could not afford, which eventually became the new downtown Fort Worth Tarrant County College campus in an amazing Fort Worth boondoggle confluence.

I'll copy for your reading pleasure what is written on this historical marker....

RIPLEY ARNOLD PLACE

Fort Worth's first public housing development completed in 1940, was named to honor Major Ripley Arnold, commanding officer of the fort on the bluff overlooking the Trinity River that became Fort Worth (1849).

Six local architects designed the apartments in 1938  to provide affordable housing for low-income white tenants. Butler Place, several blocks east, was built at the same time for African-American residents. Funding for the 252 modernistic brick and concrete dwellings came from the United States Housing Authority and the sale of City of Fort Worth Housing Authority Bonds. Twenty-eight new homes were added in 1962. Units were racially integrated in the 1960s and air conditioning was added in 1996.

Ripley Arnold Place was sold in 2001, its proceeds provided seed money for mixed income developments in neighborhoods throughout the city. This new housing created better environments for residents and their families.

_____________________________________

Air conditioning was not added until 1996? When was indoor plumbing added, I can't help but wonder?

That last paragraph on the propaganda, I mean, historical marker, does not match my memory.

No mention is made that this public housing development was removed so that Radio Shack could build its headquarters.

I do not remember mixed income developments developing as a result of this "sale".  What I do remember is a big controversy erupting when an apartment complex was bought to which to move the displaced public housing residents, with people in that apartment complex's neighborhood objecting to low income people moving in amongst them.

This new housing created better environments for the displaced residents? Really?

Well, I am guessing that the new location of their public housing is much closer to grocery stores and other big city amenities than what they had closely available to them when they lived in downtown Fort Worth....

A River Runs Through Fort Worth's Other New Downtown Plaza

Yesterday, Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, I was walking on a newly asphalted trail on the south bank of the Trinity River, when a short distance past the Paddock Viaduct, also known as the North Main Street Bridge, I came upon the flight of stairs you see to the left, rising from the banks of the Trinity River to one of the downtown Fort Worth Tarrant County College campuses.

Back when this particular campus was under construction, before it became one of Fort Worth's more infamous boondoggles, a controversy arose from someone named Ed Bass over something that was known as the Sunken Plaza.

If I remember right the Sunken Plaza sank as a result of the Bass interference.

So, I was a bit surprised when I reached the top of these stairs to find myself looking at what looked to me to be a very big plaza, situated between two big buildings which formed a sort of canyon, which I imagine provides good shade on a HOT day.

What follows is a look at the Tarrant County College downtown campus plaza from the top of the stairs til exiting the plaza at street level.

Above we are looking south from the north end of the plaza. Below we do a 180 and look north, with a view of the Trinity River flowing below.

A river-like water feature runs the length of the plaza, beginning at the south end with a waterfall falling from street level to the plaza.

The water in the water feature is shallow, with multiple cement "benches" in the water which look like they'd be a pleasant place to sit on a HOT day of summer, spring and fall. Below is another look at the TCC Plaza's river and its "bench" islands.

Below we are looking south at the aforementioned waterfall cascading down into the plaza.

Below we are at street level, looking down on the TCC Plaza waterfall and south end of the plaza.

After seeing what looked to me to be a very well designed plaza I can not help but wonder what this would have been like if the Sunken Plaza had been allowed to be built.

In addition to being surprised by the TCC Plaza I was also surprised by the size of the buildings that make up this college campus.

Surprised and confused.

It has been a few years, but the way I remember it the price tag for this college campus escalated to horrific heights, the project was behind schedule, what with it being a complex engineering task, building above the banks of a river.

And then the Army Corps of Engineers would not sign off on the plan to build a bridge across the Trinity with more campus buildings on the north side of the river.

At some point in time after Radio Shack found it could not afford its new corporate campus, located a short distance to the west of the then under construction new TCC campus, Tarrant County College decided to amp up the boondoggling by spending a few hundred million dollars more for some of the Radio Shack space to turn into its downtown campus.

With the original new campus turned into some sort of medical training facility.

Yesterday it looked to me that the original new downtown Fort Worth TCC campus is a completed structure. A very large completed structure.

Is this building being fully utilized? What is the current status of this particularly bad Fort Worth boondoggle?

I could not help but notice that I did not notice a single other person, anywhere, in the TCC Plaza zone yesterday.

But, Fort Worth's downtown did not have a lot of people on the streets yesterday, what with it being Black Friday, maybe the TCC plaza sees more activity on a school day....

The Trinity River Vision Boondoggle Cordially Invites You To A Historic Ground Blessing

Since this invite came from the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle, and one is asked to RSVP to the Trinity River Vision Boondoogle, I guess it is safe to assume that the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle has now broadened its vision to include erecting statues and building plazas on which statues are erected.

Apparently, before we can have the statue erection we must bless the land upon which the statue will stand.

Hence the cordial invite to the historic ground blessing of the future site of the Major Ripley Allen Arnold Monument and the John V. McMilllan Plaza.

This will take place directly behind the Tarrant County College Trinity River Campus at the doomed confluence of the Clear and West Forks of the Trinity River.

The announcement does not use the word "doomed" regarding the confluence of the Clear and West Forks of the Trinity River.

Mentioning that confluence in a Trinity River Vision Boondoggle announcement is sort of ironic, due to the fact that if the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle ever actually becomes anything anyone would want to see, one of those things is a small pond, where currently the two forks of the Trinity River join forces to become a bigger river.

It also seems ironic, to me, that the TCC Trinity River Campus is to be the location of a Major Ripley Allen Arnold Monument. The TCC Trinity River Campus originally was Radio Shack's Corporate Headquarters, before an amazing confluence of Fort Worth/Tarrant County Boondoggles had TCC taking over the Radio Shack building.

Radio Shack's Corporate Headquarters are built at the location of a former monument to Major Ripley Allen  Arnold in the form of the Ripley Arnold Housing Development, a development which was taken by abusing eminent domain so Radio Shack could build the corporate headquarters it could not afford.

It would seem the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle has now broadened its scope to include Native American Spirituality. The TRVB announcement informs us that the Medicine Wheel, pictured on the announcement, represents harmony and connections and is considered a major symbol of peaceful interaction among all living beings on Earth.

More irony.

So, this Medicine Wheel will be an important part of this historic ground blessing ceremony, with a ceremonial Native American blessing by Eddie Sandoval.

An Apache.

The Medicine Wheel is a major symbol of peaceful interaction among all living beings. Yet one more irony, what with the Texas Native American population having been long ago either exterminated or run out of the state, mostly to Oklahoma, with Oklahoma being a state where many of the tribes which used to reside in Texas, now live.

I don't think the Apache ever had a Texas presence. Could not a Comanche spiritual leader be found for this historic blessing?

Hubris, more hubris....