DTD: The National/Thompson Hotel (1401 Elm)

[Tnexster]

What a great sidewalk!

[dallaz]

The lights are on

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[Matt777]

Love it.

[Chris Sapphire]

OmG! I've waited YEARSSSS for this moment to arrive. How AMAZING to see it lit back up. Imagine the light shows its going to do. Wow!

[LBK2013]

Looks really great. This has been a long time coming.

[cowboyeagle05]

I know many people wont even notice but it is kinda like Stella got her groove back. This is the last big major empty tower in Downtown. I mean if you leave out the current working office buildings which there is still a decent amount of empty office space Downtown but at least we can say currently every building is operating instead of shuttered. It's also sad that because of our current social climate up close Downtown is suffering more than ever due to Covid and protests after affects. With more office workers working from home the more residents we have downtown the better it is to survive. Can you imagine if Downtown was only office like it used to be in this current condition. All the tunnel restaurants would be closed and most all office workers would be at home leaving downtown a ghost town even more during the day. There would basically be a few hotel guests and homeless wandering the streets looking for anything to do.

[Roman_Patrick]

Saw this in person last night. such a great sight! very excited to see this building part of the Dallas Night Skyline! i hope they turn on the lights every night now!

[R1070]

Perfect!

[clcrash19]

Thats awesome!

[DalnHou]

Wonderful. Picture it, naive country boy driving over from the Air Force Base at Carswell in Ft Worth in 1980. TV show Dallas was at it's peak. No. 1 all over the world and the skyline of Dallas was akin to what NY or Dubai is today. This building was all lit up and the first thing you saw driving from I30 and it was like Ddorothy driving to OZ. Good to see it lit up again. Yaaaa Dallas.

[Jay9398]

Thankfully the lights are not nearly as bright as they used to be. Nice reasonably soft glow.

Also, they've cleaned half of the tower windows on the southern face and the difference is striking. Worth seeing if you can make it over here before they finish.

[THRILLHO]

Roughly how long has it been since it was last fully lit up?

[Tnexster]

Softer glow sounds great!

[cowboyeagle05]

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Not my pic I got it from the Downtown Residents Council facebook group last night but at least its a bit closer up. The good thing is the post says they are not too bright so they are relived they appeared to tone them down. LEDS are good for being seen for miles away while also not having to be as bright as other technologies.

[Tivo_Kenevil]

Roughly how long has it been since it was last fully lit up?

I think they're last up in 2009. So over a decade

[clcrash19]

Yea thats right, it was spring 2009 last time it was lit up

[R1070]

Now if we could just get the Chase bank building to light up like it used to! I hate what they did with the lighting on it.

[Chris Sapphire]

I highly dislike what they did with the Chase building as well. Those blue lights are way too dim. The old gold ones were so much better and brought life and energy to that part of Downtown. Also, can the pyramid atop of the Trammel Crow tower finally be changed to LED too!? That would look bad ass!

[cowboyeagle05]

Do we think these will be color at some point? Or will they just be white 100% of the time. I am fine either way. We have plenty of color changing lights on the skyline and this tower is kinda hidden in many ways but I guess when they are doing a color for holidays it may be nice to see more of the green, red or blue on more than just Bank of America, Reunion Tower and the Omni.

[Hannibal Lecter]

Downtown Dallas landmark skyscraper will shine again this week

https://www.dallasnews.com/business/rea ... this-week/

[cowboyeagle05]

Another kinda filler fluff piece with nothing new to add sadly. At least the people who don't read the forum will know what we already knew.

[texasstar]

Note the building in the lower left corner of the photo above. The 19-story Rio Grande National Life building only existed for 20 years before it was demolished to make way for the Renassance Tower. Shortest life span of any high-rise ever?

[I45Tex]

There are a lot of other good views of RGNL in this collection of dozens of First National construction photos. Just search description containing "first national bank": https://library.uta.edu/digitalgallery/items/show/72179

Some also show the buildings on the other corner of Akard and Pacific, and then show them gone as Sanger Harris begins to be built.

This looks to be the topping out ceremony:
https://library.uta.edu/digitalgallery/items/show/68758

And there was a skyscraper hotel in Hong Kong that opened in 1993 whose closure for demolition was announced in 2007, and was finished in 2009.
https://www.emporis.com/buildings/12096 ... kong-china

[texasstar]

^ Thanks, I45Tex! There are some real gems in this collection!

[lakewoodhobo]

I’ll miss calling it “The Never”.

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[Chris Sapphire]

I am LOVING THIS SO MUCH! I cant WAIT to see what this baby can do. Light shows beyond!

[Jay9398]

It's freaking awful. So bright. All night long.

[exelone31]

So simple, so gorgeous

[dallaz]

Now, it pretty much looks how it did originally. When they were testing the lights, it was pretty dim. You couldn’t really see them that well from a distance. I actually went to a friend’s house in Oak Cliff last Wednesday when the lights were tested. Driving 67 north, it wasn’t really easy to see...only when I got really close to Downtown. Yesterday, I drove 35 north around Camp Wisdom and it was clear as day.

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It's freaking awful. So bright. All night long.

One thing they could probably do is dim the lights after a certain time...like AT&T does with their building. So, residents don’t have the lights blasting through their windows all night long. If that doesn’t happen, I guess the next best option is blackout curtains.

[Tivo_Kenevil]

I hope it stays gold and doesn't change colors often .. it looks good like that.

[dbent]

It's freaking awful. So bright. All night long.

Don’t really think it’s bright at all.
Here’s a suggestion; maybe spend some money on curtains... blackout curtains might be your best option if you think it’s bright lol beautiful is more like it ....

[Warrior2015]

The residents here will be able to have grocery service via the Thompson hotel.

[Cbdallas]

Drove down last night going into downtown I love it enlivens up that area and then with AT & T and the screen down the street that whole are becomes activated visually at night. Now we just need people out again.....sigh.

[Jay9398]

It's freaking awful. So bright. All night long.

Don’t really think it’s bright at all.
Here’s a suggestion; maybe spend some money on curtains... blackout curtains might be your best option if you think it’s bright lol beautiful is more like it ....

Thanks, I hadn't even thought of any practical solutions, I just wanted to complain.

I've been here for 5 years knowing (hoping, wishing) this was coming to completion, and I knew I might have to do something about it if I wanted to stay here. The test cycles they did were much lower impact so it as really surprising to feel the full impact last night. We're working with our complex and the National to figure out a way to make this work for everyone. Maybe turn off or dim at 10 PM weekdays and midnight weekends? I dunno. I may have to get some blackout blinds. If anyone doubts the impact from 50 feet away, here's a view of the impact from our friend at the Mosaic at midnight last night:

[quixomniac]

It's freaking awful. So bright. All night long.

Don’t really think it’s bright at all.
Here’s a suggestion; maybe spend some money on curtains... blackout curtains might be your best option if you think it’s bright lol beautiful is more like it ....

Thanks, I hadn't even thought of any practical solutions, I just wanted to complain.

I've been here for 5 years knowing (hoping, wishing) this was coming to completion, and I knew I might have to do something about it if I wanted to stay here. The test cycles they did were much lower impact so it as really surprising to feel the full impact last night. We're working with our complex and the National to figure out a way to make this work for everyone. Maybe turn off or dim at 10 PM weekdays and midnight weekends? I dunno. I may have to get some blackout blinds. If anyone doubts the impact from 50 feet away, here's a view of the impact from our friend at the Mosaic at midnight last night:

Wow. That picture really nails it doesnt it? Very bright.
Given that it's LEDs, I would imagine they aren't one single unit.
Maybe they can turn off or dim the ones up to the height of the buildings next door.
Or maybe a gradient were it is dimmer at street level and brighter at the top.
Hopefully, they come to an agreement, or rent prices really take a hit and I can move in

[Tivo_Kenevil]

"There she glows, There she glows again..."

[R1070]

I think it used to be even brighter back in the day.

[cowboyeagle05]

Back in the day people didn't live across the street from it. Back then downtown was a office complex where people stayed in a hotel room or went home to the suburban homes outside of the CBD. I assume they will end up lowering it some but anyone who moves in Downtown will notice a lifelong change for sure and either adapt or move.

[Tivo_Kenevil]

Back in the day people didn't live across the street from it. Back then downtown was a office complex where people stayed in a hotel room or went home to the suburban homes outside of the CBD. I assume they will end up lowering it some but anyone who moves in Downtown will notice a lifelong change for sure and either adapt or move.

The Sheraton should bring back the lights the Southland Life building had back in the day.

[Pinhi]

IDK, it does seem a little bight and overpowering.

[eburress]

So happy to see it lit up again! There is a lot of light shining on those other buildings, but I do like the aesthetic.

[R1070]

They may need to tone it down some to soften the glow.

[rono3849]

Hardly anyone is living in the immediate area right now, so they'll figure it out eventually. Give them some time. I grew up with that building lit up & the Republic Tower's rocket ship that was lit up too. Now that would be a mind blower if that was ever plugged in.

[R1070]

They def need to light up the Republic again. The Sheraton would be nice too.

[quixomniac]

They def need to light up the Republic again. The Sheraton would be nice too.

Found both of these in one oldie. If i'm correct.
They should definitely light up the republic tower again.
The sheraton if properly done with LED's would give major blade runner vibes.
https://flashbackdallas.com/2018/10/19/ ... of-dallas/

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[Hannibal Lecter]

I'd love to see Southland Life/Sheraton lit up again. But AFAIK they ripped out everything when they renovated it in the 80's. The cost of re-wiring it from scratch would be ridiculous.

As for Republic, IIRC they updated the "rocket" lighting sometime in the 90's. The problem there is that it's surrounded by taller buildings and there are very few angles from which it can be seen from more than a few blocks away.

[cowboyeagle05]

Plus the Sheraton had lights around its concrete skirt as well and the most recent update removed them entirely. You can look up and the see the simple fill put in the holes where the fixtures used to be.

I honestly think this building will end up turning them down.

[texasstar]

The thing I'm looking forward to the most, is the new Observation Deck!

[THRILLHO]

The thing I'm looking forward to the most, is the new Observation Deck!

I had no idea we were getting an observation deck! Is that confirmed?

I've always wished for Dallas to have more of these and am bummed that I never got to visit the Chase tower sky lobby when it was open.

[Tucy]

I'm curious about this observation deck as well. Both historically and whether it is planned to be reopened.

Was it an open-air deck on the roof of the building? Where was it exactly?

Earlier in the renovation process, I think it was mentioned that it would be coming back. The website for the project does not seem to mention an observation deck. It does say there will be a restaurant on the 49th floor. I find elsewhere some mentions that the observation deck was on the 50th floor.

Which triggers another question... How many floors does this building actually have? Steve Brown likes to call it 52 stories, which, given Steve Brown's proclivities, is probably an exaggeration. The building's website says it is 51 stories. If they are having a restaurant on 49 and (perhaps) an observation deck on 50... I wonder what is on 51. And where is Steve Brown's 52nd floor?

Oh, and Merriman (the renovation architects) says it's 50 stories.