Richard W. Rodriguez
Architecture and design are to John Roberts like coffee is to Monday morning. Or blueprints are to a builder.
Roberts is an architect who was born and raised in Fort Worth. He attended Paschal High School and then studied architecture at the University of Texas at Arlington, graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1980 and a master's degree in 1983. He has worked for Halbach Dietz Architects for almost 35 years, having started there in 1990 shortly after becoming licensed as an architect in 1987.
He was also at one time on a committee within the city that made recommendations to the Historic & Cultural Landmarks Commission on which buildings to designate as historic and cultural landmarks.
His curiosity began long before that, however. As a young boy he stared with fascination up at Fort Worth’s tallest building, the 30-story Continental Bank Building — the Landmark Tower — with a 32-foot revolving clock. At one time, the clock, with the letters “CNB,” was the world’s largest digital timepiece.
“The huge revolving clock on the top was very unique,” he says in a conversation by phone. “I was always interested in buildings and architecture and construction.”
When completed in 1956, the Continental Bank Building added 177,000 square feet of prime office space to the downtown landscape. The 30-story building was designed by Preston M. Geren & Associates in Fort Worth and built in two phases.
Originally planned for 28 stories, construction was halted after four stories when the economy slowed in the early 1950s. Shortly after opening in 1952, as a healthy economy reemerged, the building owner wanted to finish it. Two floors were added to the blueprint, as well as the clock.
It was the tallest building in Fort Worth, and it was the first building to use an aluminum “curtain wall.” The building had to be redesigned to support the clock, which included “cladding the building with an aluminum curtain wall” instead of brick.
“This lightened the load from the original design, but because the extra two floors and the clock were added, the existing structure within the building also had to be strengthened.”
The building sustained a hit from the March 28, 2000, tornado and “suffered significant damage.” The clock, which had quit working by the time, was removed. The building itself, purchased by XTO Energy, was demolished in 2006.
All of the information was gleaned from Roberts, whose architectural work in Fort Worth includes a number of projects at the Fort Worth Zoo.
His legacy project, however, is his website “Architecture in Fort Worth” (www.fortwortharchitecture.com), which documents just about every significant structure in the city, including every building downtown. He began the project in 1997.
“I first started out with just a list of downtown buildings with their dates and their architects and their address,” Roberts says. “It will never be done.”
When I press him about how many he has documented, he says, “I really don’t know. It’s always changing. I am adding from time to time, and, of course, I expanded to cover the whole city, which was a big undertaking. And maybe I shouldn't have done it in hindsight, but still, it's fun to just keep working on it. It’s a work in progress.”
Some buildings are just listed, while others, like the Landmark Tower, have full descriptions.
He’s learned through the years of his exhaustive research that architects in the past copied some of their designs “like we do today as architects.”
Renowned Fort Worth firm Sanguinet & Staats designed three versions of the neoclassical Burk Burnett Building, which resides in Sundance Square. This was the third such building designed by Sanguinet & Staats. The American Amicable — ALICO — Building in Waco is 22 stories, with a different color scheme. It opened in 1911. The Rand Building in San Antonio, opened in 1913, is only eight “but is an almost exact duplicate of the Burk Burnett.”
Roberts also has vast files of photos of buildings. He’s been shooting for decades. He has been very steadily converting those to digital. It’s a process. He estimates he has taken thousands of photos since the 1970s.
To no surprise, Roberts’ favorite structures are those designed in the acclaimed art deco style made notable here by architects Wiley Clarkson and Wyatt Hedrick, whose fingerprints are all over the Fort Worth skyline.
Hedrick’s notable designs include the Texas and Pacific Terminal and Warehouse (1931), Will Rogers Memorial Center (1936), and the 1938 City Hall. A number of buildings at TCU and Texas Wesleyan were also designed by Hedrick.
Clarkson designed the original building at THR Harris Downtown, Trinity Episcopal Church, the Sinclair Building, and North Side High School.
Roberts lends his expertise to Historic Fort Worth Inc. as a member of the nonprofit’s board of directors. He has been in service for more than 20 years, as well as stints as chairman.
“The funny thing about that is, is that we have term limits, but they haven't thrown me off yet,” says Roberts, who adds, laughing, that he has also served more terms as chairman than he thought he was supposed to.
He is obviously a devoted advocate of preservation.
One of his chief concerns is the eight-story Texas & Pacific Warehouse on Lancaster downtown, another building designed by Hedrick, in association with Herman Koeppe. It has been vacant for years and is high among Historic Fort Worth Inc.’s list of endangered buildings.
The building has less ornamentation than its sibling, the Texas & Pacific Railway Terminal, a block to the east, but it’s still a “great example of the Zigzag Moderne style,” Roberts writes on Architecture in Fort Worth. “It features inlaid panels of blue tile, ornamental brickwork, and polychrome brick. The polychrome brick has many patterns typical of the art deco period. The exterior of the building is marked by octagonal corner towers and intermediate roof towers, similar to the passenger terminal.”
Says Roberts in our conversation: "Once we lose a historic building or house, they're gone forever. And if we preserve them, then we're preserving our history."
Roberts is a popular contributor to “Fort Worth, Texas, History,” a page on Facebook. He is the authority on the topic of Fort Worth architecture. He also has a widely used forum on Architecture in Fort Worth.
Moreover, he has a couple of recurring meetings each month. On the last Friday of every month, he calls a gathering at Benito’s on Magnolia to talk Fort Worth architecture, history, or whatever else comes to mind.
“We try to stick to the subject, but we don't always,” he says. “Last week we talked a lot about some of the new projects coming up. And then we also talked about a guy’s new Subaru Crosstrek. Anything and everything.”
On the second Saturday of the month, he helps lead downtown walking tours. Those start at 9 a.m. at the T&P terminal building.
More evidence of John Roberts’ life as a devoted disciple of architecture in Fort Worth. It’s important work and an important resource for researchers, students, historians, and preservation groups. So much so that he has plans to pass on Architecture in Fort Worth when his days of documenting are over.
Administration of the site will either go to Historic Fort Worth Inc. or the American Institute of Architects.
Or both.
“It’ll go to either organization. Or both. But I do want them to continue the work.”
JOHN ROBERTS’ FAVORITE BUILDINGS IN FORT WORTH
At least these were his favorites when I asked him. “It varies from day to day and year to year,” he says.
The Texas & Pacific Railway Terminal
“It is probably the grandest art deco building we have in the city. The detailing on the building is fantastic, and the beauty of the main waiting room is extraordinary. Wyatt C. Hedrick, with Herman P. Koeppe as designer, planned this monumental railroad complex on the south end of downtown in 1931. The complex consisted of three functions, a railroad passenger terminal, an office building, and a separate warehouse facility. The entire complex was designed in the Zigzag Moderne style of art deco. Land was also given to the United States Postal Service to build a new post office. That building was completed in 1933 but was not designed in the art deco style.
The Sinclair Building
This 16-story building, designed by Wiley G. Clarkson and built by Harry B. Friedman, is one of Fort Worth's finest examples of art deco architecture. The building is more specifically of Zigzag Moderne styling and features many ziggurat elements on doorways, windows, and even in the shape of the building. The lobby is an excellent example from this period. On the 14th floor, eagle finials cap the vertical elements of the building's shaft. On top of the 16th floor penthouse, the vertical mullions are capped with alternating height pinnacles. It opened on Monday, Nov. 17, 1930. In 1990, the building was completely restored by architect Ward Bogard.
Tarrant County Courthouse
Modeled after the Texas Capitol in Austin with pink granite, the 1895 Tarrant County Courthouse is one of architectural masterpieces of the city, according to Roberts. It serves as the terminus of Main Street, and it sits high on the bluff of the Trinity River. It was designed by Gunn and Curtiss Architects of Kansas City. “It is a striking example of American Beaux Arts Design.” The general contractor was Probst & Co. of Chicago. One of the first structural steel-framed buildings built in the southwestern U.S.
Kimbell Art Museum
“The Kimbell Art Museum is, in my opinion, one of the best examples of modern architecture that we have in the city. I love the way Kahn played with the vaults and the lighting within the galleries. The building will stand the test of time.” The last project by architect Louis Kahn before his death in 1974, the design is considered by many as the best piece of architecture within the city of Fort Worth. The building consists of a modular arrangement of 16 cycloid vaults. They are constructed with post-tensioned concrete. Preston M. Geren Associates served as associate architect. Thos. S. Byrne was general contractor. The building opened on Oct. 4, 1972.
Will Rogers Auditorium, Coliseum, and Pioneer Tower
Architect Wyatt C. Hedrick designed the three buildings for the Texas Centennial celebration in 1936 using a mixture of classical revival and moderne styles. Thos. S. Byrne of Fort Worth was the general contractor.
The complex features three buildings: an auditorium, a coliseum, and a 208-foot tower that sits between them. All buildings are constructed with buff-yellow brick. The structural engineer for the project was Herbert M. Hinckley. The coliseum was the first building designed with arched trusses joining at a ridge in the center, allowing the interior to be completely free of columns. Modern domed stadiums are based on the engineering design used here.