Dallas Fort Worth Urban Forum

The_Overdog wrote:Dallas needs more church bell noise.

I was in London this past December and enjoyed hearing Big Ben's bells announcing the new hour. It was hardly a church bell. Anything to give Dallas some character is an improvement in my estimation. So much of the city's history has been destroyed over the years. To this day, I remember the bright lights of Elm Street and its many theaters that lined it. The Palace Theater was simply divine and a marvel to go to watch movies. That spectacular white organ that would emerge from the floor to play prior to the main attraction's start is a great memory. Sad to know it was destroyed in the frenzy to get rid of Downtown Dallas' theaters & buildings in the seventies & eighties.

Drove down Maple Avenue earlier in the week and Crow Holdings' clock tower is beginning to make its way skyward. You can see the construction at the gate closest to Oak Lawn Avenue. It should be interesting to see how long the construction will take. This one cleared all design & construction hurdles within the city's bureaucracy in short order.

Took a quick phone pic of the clock tower as I walked by today. It’s right across Maple from Val’s and The Grapevine but visible from around the neighborhood now.

Thanks for the update. I'd been wanting to go over and see how that was going along.

This project rightfully got blasted by Mark Lamster for being fake urbanism lol

It doesn't seem like urbanism was the intent of this project. Either way, I'm still glad it exists.

Tivo_Kenevil wrote::D This project rightfully got blasted by Mark Lamster for being fake urbanism lol

Lamster attacked Phillip Johnson's Crescent as well, which is a ridiculous criticism. The Crescent was so successful that it sparked the entire Uptown area. The old Parkland development is an upgrade to an area that had floundered for years. Honestly, Lamster's out of touch & embarrassed himself with his commentary IMO.

Old Parkland has helped revive that section of Oak Lawn between Maple and Cedar Springs.

Yup. We moved into that neighborhood between Old Parkland and Cedar Springs about 4 years ago and the transformation over here has been insane. Better townhomes/apartments/towers/retail popping up everywhere. Also tons of street improvements. It all seemed to start when Old Parkland started it's expansion.

JDumont146 wrote:Yup. We moved into that neighborhood between Old Parkland and Cedar Springs about 4 years ago and the transformation over here has been insane. Better townhomes/apartments/towers/retail popping up everywhere. Also tons of street improvements. It all seemed to start when Old Parkland started it's expansion.

Old Parkland + Oak Lawn exit on Tollroad + renaissance of Oak Lawn in the Design District.

willyk wrote:

JDumont146 wrote:Yup. We moved into that neighborhood between Old Parkland and Cedar Springs about 4 years ago and the transformation over here has been insane. Better townhomes/apartments/towers/retail popping up everywhere. Also tons of street improvements. It all seemed to start when Old Parkland started it's expansion.

Old Parkland + Oak Lawn exit on Tollroad + renaissance of Oak Lawn in the Design District.

Also add in the direct investment from Crow Holdings in new restaurant buildings along Maple and residential developments in the immediate vicinity of its walled-off office campus. https://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/blog ... venue.html

The clock tower's construction has reached the point where the dome & brick masonry will soon be added, as well as the clock itself. This is a nice addition to the development & area.

Yea, it doesn’t look as awkward as I thought it was going to.

I love it. So pretentious, hope it finishes up looking really pretty.

Atleast the clock tower itself does not look as bad as this:

But the effect of the whole development is the same.
Completely ruined what started out with the restoration of the old parkland building.
But would not have expected anything else from Trammel Crow of these days.

I don't understand the hate directed at the Old Parkland development. The original buildings were salvaged after years of neglect & ruin. Now the development is lush and an asset to the Oak Lawn area. Dallas tore down most of its older architecture, so it's nice to see Old Parkland expanded, IMO. The clock tower is a nice finishing touch for the surrounding community.

Did you photograph the first and second pictures? Is the community allowed to walk right in like that?

I haven't been down there but it struck me (reading an interview with the owner several years ago) as a colonial-nostalgia office park for likeminded private foundations and hedge funds to network together. I get that the dome is intended as a good taste sequel to the SMU and University of Virginia rotundas.

Yes: it's a property taxpaying upgrade but nobody can really cherish a monument to, honestly, the sort of influence-peddling that would (wish to) pass for actual tradition or for a true meritocracy.

Whether or not it's going to be walled off all the time, it's a vision of the desirable, right, and beautiful free civil society. And that vision is one that amounts to an architectural dogwhistle.

I hope I'm wrong, but if what you're hearing from people is on account of that, maybe that's where it's coming from. Harwood for a counterexample may be much less lush but it's a cityscape that's not at all gated and Dallasites can still expect to walk around and rub shoulders all we want. I find that vision of city life more pleasing and less cartoony than this one.

...although I do disagree with someone like a Lamster who would view expensive non-Modern urban design language and elements as a clownish elegance.

Per an article in D Magazine, the clock tower is also a bell tower, and home to the 4th largest bell in the US. It is a "bronze behemoth 9 feet in diameter, weighing a bit more than 30,000 pounds. "


https://www.dmagazine.com/publications/ ... ell-tower/

Untitled by rlopez2011, on Flickr

Untitled by rlopez2011, on Flickr
Untitled by rlopez2011, on Flickr
Untitled by rlopez2011, on Flickr
Untitled by rlopez2011, on Flickr

Can't wait to hear that bell.

Yesterday, the bell in the new clocktower was tried out for the first time. A video of the event is at the bottom of the linked article. The bell actually has a name: "Horatio".

https://www.dmagazine.com/frontburner/2 ... irst-time/

The tower is looking good.

That bronze cap on the tower sure does make a statement. I could hear them testing it yesterday. Sounds nice.

That is fantastic!

I have to say the Campanile is a nice addition to the Oaklawn skyline. Love that gold dome. Once the brickwork is finished & clock face is added on the tower, this will enhance its impressive impact to the area.

Reminds me a bit of the Hoover Tower at Stanford in form. Does anyone know why Horatio? A big Lord Nelson fan? Also, does anyone know if it will have any lighting? We are Dallas after all.

rono3849 wrote:Campanile-Parkland.jpg
Campanile-Parkland.1.jpg

I have to say the Campanile is a nice addition to the Oaklawn skyline. Love that gold dome. Once the brickwork is finished & clock face is added on the tower, this will enhance its impressive impact to the area.

I was at they gym last week and the local news was on one of the tv's. The were showing a shot that overlooked this area and for the longest I had no idea what the this tall thin structure was...then it hit me that it was this clock tower. It DEFINITELY makes an impact; much more so than I imagined.

Saw the tower this morning while driving into downtown, from the I-30 ramp turning north onto I-35, dome shining bright in the sun like a brand new penny.

1/27/2021

Duplicate post

Tnexster wrote:Saw the tower this morning while driving into downtown, from the I-30 ramp turning north onto I-35, dome shining bright in the sun like a brand new penny.

That reminds me the large dome was shiny when first installed. It would be nice if this little one stayed shiny but probably not. Get your photos before it dulls.

I've been wondering which route they might go with the copper shine (I guess assuming it's copper) :

Clean it regularly.

Let it do it's natural thing over many, many years.

Or, take it chemically to a full patina real fast. If I remember correctly, many moons ago the top roof of Momentum Place (Comerica Tower) chemically sent the copper roof to blue-green real quick after being built back in the day. At some point, I don't know when, that was lost.

Thanks for the photos!

LongonBigD wrote:

Tnexster wrote:Saw the tower this morning while driving into downtown, from the I-30 ramp turning north onto I-35, dome shining bright in the sun like a brand new penny.

That reminds me the large dome was shiny when first installed. It would be nice if this little one stayed shiny but probably not. Get your photos before it dulls.

I love shiny copper but don't expect it to last long.

flying robot drones can polish it once a week.

What color was the big dome at the corner when they built that structure wasn't it also shinny when it was installed until they applied a patina.

cowboyeagle05 wrote:What color was the big dome at the corner when they built that structure wasn't it also shinny when it was installed until they applied a patina.

Shiny copper from what I recall.

There is your answer then it will match. After all in the Texas sun it would look like the Eye of Saron with rays shining off towards the Stemmons and DNT.

cowboyeagle05 wrote:There is your answer then it will match. After all in the Texas sun it would look like the Eye of Saron with rays shining off towards the Stemmons and DNT.

6e8874393dd546f5a50c8f4f3aa727d9.png

I have no problems with that lol

The Old Parkand Campanile bell tower is moving along. Hard to believe it won't be finished until Novmeber 2021.

I love it.

Old Parkland's bell tower is progressing towards completion. It's really shaping up to be an asset to the local area with its visibility beyond the immediate boundaries of the Old Parkland development. The brickwork is nicely done and looks great in-person.

I agree I love seeing it as I drive around from different perspectives.

I feel nothing when I see it. It's so isolated from anything to actual make me feel like it's part of the urban fabric. It's an ivory tower.

Dallas’ Old Parkland campus plans for major expansion

https://www.dallasnews.com/business/rea ... expansion/

The Old Parkland expansion would replace small restaurant buildings and an apartment complex on the site, which extends from Maple to Fairmount Street.

The developer would agree to place 90% of the parking for the office building in an underground garage.

The project would have a maximum height of 240 feet – the same as the new clock tower Crow Holdings is building at Old Parkland.

This is interesting to say the least. The apartments that would be replaced don't appear to be that old.

Wow, in all the speculation about what was replacing those apartments (in the Oaklawn thread, I assume) this is definitely not what I expected. I love that these very high quality structures are spreading out into the neighborhood though. The parking lot in front is a bit of a bummer but it's worth it IMO.

Too bad they can't place it across DNT in the empty lot and connect to each other. Would fill an empty lot and the skyline.

MC_ScattCat wrote:Too bad they can't place it across DNT in the empty lot and connect to each other. Would fill an empty lot and the skyline.

Way things are going and now with this, I would guess that lot you're referring to would be filled sooner than later.

The surface parking needs to be downsized. Would be better with a restaurant on the corner at Maple and Reagan.

The architecture is getting more and more cartoonish here. Ironic how Crow Holdings hated the original Old Parkland so much that they covered it with faux-colonial-revival buildings, and now they're adding a building that towers over the fake ones and just happens to look like a 1990s hospital.