Historic Designations:
National Register of Historic Places
City of Fort Worth Demolition Delay
Formerly:
Commerce Building
Fair Building
Fort Worth Architect Wyatt C. Hedrick originally designed this building for The Fair department store which closed in 1963. Hewitt Construction Company built the building. The 19 story building is a mixture of Art Deco and Gothic Designs. In 1964, the Bank of Commerce and World Service Life purchased the building. At that time, the base was remodeled for the Bank of Commerce and a weather forecasting sign was installed on the roof. Butcher & Sweeney were the General Contractors for the remodeling of the building. At that time, the building was renamed The Commerce Building. The sign was for World Service Life, a major tenant in the building. Originally, three large letters were on the sign in addition to the weather. The were "SLC" for Service Life Center. Later the letters were changed to "WSL". It was billed as the world's largest two faced revolving sign. It was removed in 1993 after several years of being inoperable. In 1951, a parking garage was built to the south. Adjacent to the building is the Oil & Gas Building (1952), and over the years both buildings came under the same ownership. In the early 1990's, a new entrance was added between the structures and their lobbies were remodeled so they would interconnect. This was an easy connection to make because the Oil & Gas Building was constructed with its elevator core right next to the elevator core of the Commerce Building. In 2011, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram sold its landmark building one block away west on 7th Street, and shortly thereafter, announced that they would be leasing space in the Commerce Building. The Star-Telegram leased space on the first floor, mezzanine, fourth, fifth, and sixth floors. The paper started their operations in the building on October 2, 2011 and the structure has been renamed the Star-Telegram Building.
Architectural Style:
Art Deco/Gothic
Architect:
Wyatt C. Hedrick, Fort Worth
Contractor:
Hewett Construction Company
Category:
Office Building