Metroplexing

Missing Signs of the Metroplex

A Look At Some Notable Signs That Have Disappeared from Our Landscape

The Alamo Plaza Hotel Court Sign

This sign sat in front of North Oak Cliff's Alamo Plaza Hotel Courts since the 1940's. At one time, the chain motel on Fort Worth Ave was a delightful stop before entering downtown Dallas. When it closed in 2007, it was hardly a gem

In December of 2010, the motel met the wrecking ball to make room for a new development called Sylvan Thirty, which would feature loft apartments, retail and a grocery store. The developer promised that the iconic sign which was left standing would be part of the development.

Sadly, the sign was removed in April of 2013 from the site even thought the developer promised Preservation Dallas, the city staff and the Dallas Morning News that the sign would remain.

STATUS: Returned

After the sign was removed there was considerable uproar. The developer put up a website asking for suggestions with what to do with the the sign.

"We’d like for you to submit ideas for the sign’s future. We’re open to using it somewhere on our property, repurposing it, moving it somewhere else in West Dallas, donating it…nothing is off the table and all submitted ideas will be considered"

The website also added this disclaimer:

"To be clear, we have plans in development for using the sign on our site, which was our original intention. However, community members have come forward suggesting that we allow it to be used as public art to represent West Dallas and the Fort Worth Avenue corridor. As we’ve said before, we’re open to all ideas."

UPDATE On recent vist to the Sylvan Thirty development, it was discover that the developer did indeed use the sign in an imaginative public art project. different parts of the sign were refurbished and repurposed to add character to the common space.

The Main Portion of the sign displayed in a crush gravel courtyard

The A atop the sign has it's neon refurbished and sits in this permanently parked classic Chevy truck

The arrow atop the sign now points down and has had it's neon restored

7th Street Theatre Marquee - Fort Worth

Sadly, I am surprised how quickly Fort Worth has forgotten this West Side landmark. The family owned theatre was closed and demolished in 2002. The family owned theater was known for running first run movies a few weeks after their premier at a discounted price. The ticket taker, projectionist and the concession stand operator were all of the same family, often the same person.

I always found it funny how I would often arrive at 6:55 for the 7:00 showing, only to find the movie had already started, so the family could get home early. (There was also a clock in the lobby that would indicate it was only 6:55)

The theatre closed after a family tragedy in 2001 and never reopened. The property was bought by the FPA Foundation, who tore down the theatre despite local protests. The Foundation saved the marquee and promised that it would be used in any future development.

STATUS: Unknown

The status of the FPA Foundation is unknown, so the location of the ownership of the sign is also in question. The 7th Street / University intersection has gone through massive redevelopment. A tall building with Eddie V's Restaurant sits at the location of the old theatre. The marquee has yet to be used in any of the new projects in the area and there seems to be little call to bring it back.

Casa Linda Pegasus atop the Mobile Station

One of the most iconic buildings in the Casa Linda Shopping Center in East Dallas was the Mobile Station that sat on the Northeast corner of Buckner and Garland Road. The station was torn down in 2003 and replaced with a bank .

STATUS - Saved

The iconic sign which originally was displayed at the 1939 World's Fair was saved and is now on display ay the Museum in the Old Red Courthouse.

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One Man's Dallas Ballpark Proposal

Recently, D Magazine's Peter Simek wrote an intriguing piece about the City of Dallas getting behind a future Rangers Ballpark proposal.

The article suggested proposed sites for such a ballpark, including Fair Park and Downtown. Do we really want the Ranger's in Fair Park? Is that going to bring the Wrigleyville atmosphere that we all crave? Mention Fair Park to most people and few think about spending their summer nights there.

Another site mentioned is the old Reunion Arena plot. I went to many games and concerts at the old arena. I recall a facility tucked away in a far corner of downtown with a total lack of any urban atmosphere. Would that really change with another sports facility?

Of course any site chosen in Dallas County would be perceived as a slight to fans in other parts of DFW. Especially fans in Tarrant County, who have hosted the Rangers since they moved here in 1972.

But what if there was a site in Dallas, that was just 15 minutes from Globe Life Park? What if there was a site that was near Downtown Dallas in a long forgotten neighborhood? A neighborhood that had recently been rediscovered with new restaurants, apartments and bars.

What if there was a site that had access from I-30, I-35, Woodall Rogers, Loop 12 and was just a few miles from Central, the Tollway, I-45, not to mention Mockingbird and Inwood?

Say hello to West Dallas. Better yet, say hello to the corner of Sylvan and Singleton, just a few blocks from the end of Woodall Rogers and the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge. There is perhaps no other site in DFW that has better access. For fans driving from Fort Worth, it's just 15 minutes further west from Globe Life Park on I-30. And unlike Downtown Dallas and Fair Park, Tarrant Country drivers won't have to navigate through the choke hold that is the I-30 canyon.

You can reach it from I-35 via the Sylvan exit or the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge exit. Loop 12 is just 5 miles away on Singleton Avenue. The Dallas North Tollway ends just two miles from the proposed stadium site. Central Expressway and I-45 both empty into Woodall Rogers which enters West Dallas via the bridge.

There is even a rail line on the south end of the propose site that could be used for a future commuter rail line.

The area has a number of new gathering spots at Trinity Groves with more planned and Singleton Avenue has recently been widened and is ripe for future development.

Imagine the downtown skyline and the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge being seen from the outfield of a new proposed stadium.

The ballpark could even be built with the downtown skyline and the iconic Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge as a dramatic signature outfield backdrop.

One downside, the site is currently an iron works foundry and might be a possible brown site. But other stadiums, specifically San Antonio's Alamodome, have been built on similar sites after a cleanup.

A stadium on the proposed corners of Sylvan and Singleton in West Dallas. Notice the rail line in the lower right corner.

Another potential downside is that it does not have access to the Dart Lines, but a street car line not unlike the new Oak Cliff line might be a possible solution.

But with it's central location, it's access and potential for mass transit, and the number of bars and restaurants proposed for the area, this could be Dallas' best shot at landing a ballpark that becomes a true urban destination.

Mark "Hawkeye" Louis is the longtime host of 'Hawkeye in the Morning' on NEW Country 96.3 KSCS. He is an avid baseball fan, an outfielder for the amateur Fort Worth Coyotes and a former member of the TCU Baseball Broadcast Crew.

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The Day The Davis Cup Came to A Dallas City Park

   The year was 1965. Tennis' premier international event, the Davis Cup was scheduled to hold the semifinals in Dallas. Usually an event of this magnitude would be help at a first class arena or a top notch country club. In fact, several local country clubs did offer to host the event

   With one important caveat.

   Their clubhouse facilities could not be used by Arthur Ashe, the first African-American to be named to the Davis Cup team. The organizers of the event did not see this as a viable request.

   Stepping up to save the day, the city of Dallas. The city had just opened up a 20 court facility in East Dallas at Samuell -Grand Park. The city offered to resurface Courts One and Two into one center court and build temporary stands to accommodate the crowds. On July 31, 1965, a city park in East Dallas, hosted one of the world's premier sporting events.

   Samuell - Grand Park Today: When I first moved to East Dallas in 2008, I was excited to find the twenty court facility so close to my home. I stopped by multiple times only to find the pro shop locked and twenty well preserved unaccessable vacant courts. I called the number posted on the door several times but never received a reply.
   A few months later, I started to see signs of life, including a new sign advertised a website. I searched the web to find that the city has allowed the Midcourt Tennis Academy to run the facility.
   The city passed a bond package and a new club house was built and the courts were resurfaced. It's once again the most popular and modern tennis facility in Dallas. If you visit the Samuell Grand Tennis Center, ask for Court 1. Arthur Ashe once played there.

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Oops, We Need To Take that off our Tuesday Morning Shelves

One of our employees has a relative that works at Tuesday Morning at Preston and LBJ in Dallas. We love Tuesday Morning and their deep discounted, upscale close out merchandise.

Somewhere, this merchandise was on a shelf somewhere else. Luckily, the employees of Tuesday Morning discovered this picture board and made sure it never made it to their shelves.

This Picture Board looks pretty harmless from a distance, but up close the design feature a World War II vintage German Postmark complete with Swastika and Hitler image. Tuesday Morning caught this piece of merchandise quickly. It makes us wonder, who had this first, before it became a closeout item?

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Dallas' Free Observation Deck

One of the most iconic buildings in the Dallas skyline is Reunion Tower, but a ticket to the top is now $16.
Equally iconic is the Chase Tower, with a keyhole near the top of the 55th floor.

The Sky Lobby observation deck sits right below the keyhole and offers spectacular north and south views of Dallas. Although the deck is free, you must check in at the security desk and show ID before heading up.

Directions

The Sky Lobby, A Garden on the 40th Floor

Looking north toward Klyde Warren Deck Park and the Museum Tower

Looking South toward the Sheraton and my reflection

Looking up toward the Keyhole

Be prepared to check in at the Security Desk before taking the Express Elevator to Sky Lobby. The deck is open during normal business hours.

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Super Bowl Sunday: Let's Have an Implosion

In case you missed you it, there was an implosion Sunday morning in Dallas. The Xerox / ACS Building at 3988 North Central Expressway (Between Fitzhugh and Lemmon) was imploded early this morning.

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Dallas' Bridge Park

First there was the wildly successful Klyde Warren Deck Park between Uptown and Downtown. Now comes Dallas' newest attraction, the Bridge Park.

Opened with relatively minor fanfare, the bridge park was built on the old Continental Avenue Bridge which was replaced by the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge. Today it connects pedestrians to the two areas which are predicted to have immense changes in the next 20 years, Riverside Boulevard (formerly Industrial Boulevard) and West Dallas.

Below are a few photos of Dallas most unusual park.

The Continental Bridge in the shade of the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge.

Looking east, toward downtown

A climbing . . . blob

Chess Tables, Umbrellas and Vines that will eventually add shade

Misters and loungers give a place to cool off and get sun.

Underneath the bridges, running trails

One of many chairs, benches and tables on the bridge park

Looking west toward Trinity Groves

A small playground with the climbing blob

Great views of the parallel Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge

A short distance away is the new Sylvan Avenue Bridge which has an offramp that will connect you to the new running trails and other park features in the Trinity River Project.

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Update: Fort Worth's Forgotten Park to Reopen

Note: This Story was originally published in 2011. This past week, the city of Fort Worth announced that they are taking bids to restore and reopen the park, hopefully by 2016.

Can you have a city park designed by a prominent landscape architect and have nobody notice when it closes? The answer is yes, which is easy to understand when you consider that few people have ever noticed that the park even existed. What makes this story so unbelievable is that the park is on a busy downtown corner across the street from the Tarrant County Courthouse.

Heritage Park was opened on the corner of Belknap and Main in downtown Fort Worth to commemorate the founding of the original military post in 1849. The park, designed by noted architect Lawrence Halprin, opened in 1976. It featured numerous water features intermingled with shaded paths and a cantilevered walkway built over the bluff overlooking the Trinity River.

But even though the park was located on a busy intersection, it was one with little foot traffic. Few people noticed Heritage Park. And even fewer noticed in 2007 when the park fell into disrepair and was closed.

It's been three years since the park has closed. But there is little public uproar to reopen the grounds. I contacted the city of Fort Worth and received a reply from Fernando Costa, the Assistant City Manager. He wrote that the city is working with Downtown Fort Worth Inc. to raise funds to repair and upgrade the park. But in the past three years, little has been done. Meanwhile, the park is slowly being taking over by nature.