Fort Worthology
30 October 2009, 11:18 AM
XTO Energy purchased the former Transport Life Building at 714 Main a while ago, and commenced one of their trademark super-meticulous restorations. XTO has bought and restored quite a few other historic downtown Fort Worth buildings and restored them to their original appearances, even when the buildings were perfectly functional as they were, so they have earned a lot of historic preservation brownie points.
714 Main was built in 1920 and was formerly known as the Farmers & Mechanics Bank Building, the Fort Worth National Bank Building, the Continental Life Building, and the Transport Life Building. It was the city's tallest building until the construction of Landmark Tower in the '50s.
With this restoration, every building on Main in downtown Fort Worth is now active.
The building lost its original character through a couple of remodelings, once in the '50s and once in the '80s. The '50s reno coated the ground floor with blue glass mosaic tile, while the '80s one layered a half-hearted pseudo-restoration on it that vaguely looked like the general shape of the original base, with none of the detail.
When XTO began the restoration last year, it was revealed that the '80s and '50s bases were simply built on top of each other, over the original base. For a time, you could see remnants of all three bases:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2196/2461185614_3c5ce543af_o.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2007/2461185790_7ff1d56d12_o.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2135/2461185928_3c13336b00_o.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2284/2460351341_9022769f83_o.jpg
XTO stripped everything off, including the remnants of the original base (because new sections would never have matched).
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3650/3381543851_43a5b01c70_o.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3588/3546208931_2393dec559_o.jpg
Then, they started building a new base that matched the original '20s base exactly:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3577/3547016172_6ecba68f9a_o.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3347/3547016386_4cc2998ed6_o.jpg
The building originally had ornamental Roman soldier heads at the top of each of its arches, and an ornate entrance on Main, seen in this historic photo on the left:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2439/3948112726_c3f84056d2_o.jpg
XTO located the only surviving originals of the soldier heads, and has created exact replicas of them. They are installed on the building now:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2486/4057698771_c59d5202e2_o.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2481/4057699115_fa52bb25d5_o.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2534/4057699747_84091672b5_o.jpg
Currently, they can't be seen, as they are covered with protective tarps while the rest of the work proceeds.
Now, glass is going up on the Main Street side, and the beginnings of a recreated original entrance can be seen as well:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2511/4046864974_b6f517337b_o.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2800/4046865874_fa57861dc4_o.jpg
The 7th Street side is just a little ways behind the Main Street side:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2610/4046119749_fe768e8a30_o.jpg
It is not often that a corporate owner will go to such lengths to restore their properties (XTO often works off of bits and pieces of original trim and historic photos where blueprints aren't available). XTO has gone above and beyond once again with this building and I think we are very lucky to have them. Really looking forward to seeing this progress and getting the building opened once again.
714 Main was built in 1920 and was formerly known as the Farmers & Mechanics Bank Building, the Fort Worth National Bank Building, the Continental Life Building, and the Transport Life Building. It was the city's tallest building until the construction of Landmark Tower in the '50s.
With this restoration, every building on Main in downtown Fort Worth is now active.
The building lost its original character through a couple of remodelings, once in the '50s and once in the '80s. The '50s reno coated the ground floor with blue glass mosaic tile, while the '80s one layered a half-hearted pseudo-restoration on it that vaguely looked like the general shape of the original base, with none of the detail.
When XTO began the restoration last year, it was revealed that the '80s and '50s bases were simply built on top of each other, over the original base. For a time, you could see remnants of all three bases:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2196/2461185614_3c5ce543af_o.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2007/2461185790_7ff1d56d12_o.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2135/2461185928_3c13336b00_o.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2284/2460351341_9022769f83_o.jpg
XTO stripped everything off, including the remnants of the original base (because new sections would never have matched).
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3650/3381543851_43a5b01c70_o.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3588/3546208931_2393dec559_o.jpg
Then, they started building a new base that matched the original '20s base exactly:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3577/3547016172_6ecba68f9a_o.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3347/3547016386_4cc2998ed6_o.jpg
The building originally had ornamental Roman soldier heads at the top of each of its arches, and an ornate entrance on Main, seen in this historic photo on the left:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2439/3948112726_c3f84056d2_o.jpg
XTO located the only surviving originals of the soldier heads, and has created exact replicas of them. They are installed on the building now:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2486/4057698771_c59d5202e2_o.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2481/4057699115_fa52bb25d5_o.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2534/4057699747_84091672b5_o.jpg
Currently, they can't be seen, as they are covered with protective tarps while the rest of the work proceeds.
Now, glass is going up on the Main Street side, and the beginnings of a recreated original entrance can be seen as well:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2511/4046864974_b6f517337b_o.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2800/4046865874_fa57861dc4_o.jpg
The 7th Street side is just a little ways behind the Main Street side:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2610/4046119749_fe768e8a30_o.jpg
It is not often that a corporate owner will go to such lengths to restore their properties (XTO often works off of bits and pieces of original trim and historic photos where blueprints aren't available). XTO has gone above and beyond once again with this building and I think we are very lucky to have them. Really looking forward to seeing this progress and getting the building opened once again.