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closeSunday, Sep. 13, 2009
Fort Worth is growing up, but not uppity
The hard-hat tour was winding down when we stopped to admire the Urban Lantern, a 76-foot-tall tower and the centerpiece of the new $80 million, Victor Legorreta-designed Fort Worth Museum of Science and History. It is an awe-inspiring architectural flourish on what is sure to be another internationally recognized museum right here in little ol’ Cowtown.
As I looked up and the amber rays of sunlight streamed through the top of the Lantern, I felt a little dizzy, blinded by the breakneck pace of progress here and throughout our fair Metroplex.
Everywhere you look in DFW, world-class developments are sprouting up like dandelions.
The Cowboys Stadium in Arlington. The Winspear Opera House and Dallas Center for the Performing Arts in Big D. Perhaps most notably for those of us who call Fort Worth home. The entire cultural district is being transformed, with restaurants, retail, hotels and residential development. When I drive along West Seventh Street, my head is on a swivel, always on the lookout for another new place that’s opening. (Hey, look, the Capital Bar!)
It is exhilarating, really, and only a little scary.
The isolationist that dwells deep within me doesn’t want Fort Worth to get so big or so popular that we have to share it with everyone. And with all this expansion, I worry a little that the delicate balance of Cowtown and culture, history and hipness that defines Fort Worth will swing too far to the latter side.
There certainly have been a lot of Dallas imports and national chains dropping anchor in our fair city. And folks who still bemoan the loss of local music venues like The Wreck Room will tell you it’s only a matter of time before the bulldozer comes calling for one of your favorite places.
But Fort Worth seems to have it boots firmly planted on the ground — we’re ambitious, but we appreciate our past. Consider the new 166,000-square-foot Museum of Science and History, which opens Nov. 22. With state-of-the-art exhibit spaces, floor-to-ceiling media screens, a high-tech planetarium and a four-dimensional theater, it couldn’t be more funky or futuristic. Yet inside, there is a wing devoted to the Fort Worth Children’s Museum, which is how the museum got its start in 1941, a separate Fort Worth history gallery and the Cattle Raisers Museum.
Along West Seventh, as the contemporary yuppie village of retail and residential takes shape, Fred’s little ol’ red-wood shack stands as a constant reminder that we’ll never get too uppity.
There will be casualties for sure. I still hear "remember whens" about Caravan of Dreams. And how many times can the Ridglea Theater fight off foreclosure?
In Arlington, a reader recently e-mailed urging us to write about the Candlelite Inn, which is in the shadow of the Cowboys Stadium. The restaurant, which has been the site of many first dates and marriage proposals, is like a candle-lit trip into the past. But the owner says he might be selling because the stadium makes his land more valuable than ever.
So yes, with progress, comes some sacrifices. But I’m confident that we’ll never have to sacrifice the character of where we live.
It’s too strong to be bulldozed.
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