Landmark Tower (Fort Worth, Texas) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Landmark Tower |
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The building in 2000
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| Former names | Continental National Bank Building (1957–1982), Texas Building (1982–1998) |
| General information | |
| Type | Office |
| Location | 200 West 7th Street, Fort Worth, Texas |
| Coordinates | 32°45′09″N 97°19′53″W / 32.75237°N 97.33131°W |
| Groundbreaking | 1952 |
| Opened | 1957 |
| Closed | 1990 |
| Demolished | March 18, 2006 |
| Height | |
| Tip | 420 feet (130 m) |
| Roof | 380 feet (120 m) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 30 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architecture firm | Preston M. Geren & Associates |
The Landmark Tower was a 30-story skyscraper in Fort Worth, Texas. It was designed by the Fort Worth architecture company Preston M. Geren & Associates. When it opened in 1957, it was the tallest building in Fort Worth. It held this title until 1974. The tower was left empty in 1990 and stayed vacant for over 15 years. It was finally torn down in 2006. The Landmark Tower is one of the tallest buildings ever to be demolished on purpose.
Building the Landmark Tower
The first part of the building, made of brick and granite, started being built on June 27, 1950. This lower section was finished in 1952. It was planned to be a 28-story brick tower with a red granite base.
The building was meant to be the main office for the Continental National Bank of Fort Worth. Work on the main tower began in 1952. However, construction stopped when the building was only four stories tall. This happened because of a difficult economic time called the Recession of 1953.
Building started again in 1956 and was finished in 1957. The design was changed to add a large, rotating digital clock. This meant the building was covered with aluminum instead of brick. It was built with a strong steel frame and an aluminum outer wall, called a curtain wall. When it was completed, the building was 380-foot (120 m) tall. It became the tallest building in Fort Worth, taller than the 307-foot (94 m) 714 Main building, which was built in 1921.
Life of the Tower
When the Landmark Tower opened in 1957, it had a huge, four-sided digital clock on its roof. This clock was 32 feet tall and could spin around. It cost $196,000 and weighed 77 tons. At the time, it was the biggest spinning digital clock and sign in the world.
The clock was not part of the first building plans. So, the whole building had to be made stronger to hold its heavy weight. In 1971, a special walkway was built from the tower across Houston Street. This skywalk made it easy for people to get to a parking garage nearby.
The machine that made the clock spin broke in 1978. Instead of fixing it, the clock was just held in place. It continued to show the time until 1991.
Why the Tower Was Demolished
The Landmark Tower was left empty in 1990 and stayed vacant for 16 years. On March 28, 2000, a strong tornado hit Fort Worth. The tower was badly damaged by this tornado.
For safety reasons, the city of Fort Worth ordered the removal of the spinning 'CNB' (Continental National Bank) clock. This happened between April 15 and 21, 2000. The skywalk was also taken down at the same time.
Over the years, the building had several different owners. There were plans to turn the skyscraper into fancy apartments and condos, like what happened with The Tower. However, these plans failed because the project ran out of money.
In January 2004, a company called XTO Energy bought the building. They found out that it would cost about $62 million to fix up the tower. This was too expensive. So, they decided to tear down the building instead. They wanted to use the land for parking and maybe build something new later.
XTO Energy hired Midwest Wrecking Company in November 2005 to demolish the tower. The lower part of the original brick and granite building was removed first. After four months of preparation, the building was demolished using controlled explosives. This happened on March 18, 2006, at 7:40 am. The demolition used 364 pounds (165 kg) of explosives. People living in 15 city blocks had to leave their homes for safety during the demolition.
From 2008 to 2016, the site was just a parking lot. In 2016, construction began on "Cowtown Place," a six-level parking garage that replaced the Landmark Tower.
