Fort Worth, Texas: Views From the Top of the Blackstone Hotel
 

This week, I had a chance to go on the roof of the Blackstone Courtyard by Marriott. It opened in 1929.
http://www.fortwortharchitecture.com/blackstone3.jpg

The views are pretty nice from just outside the 21st Floor. This level houses mechanical equipment and the roof of the tower of the hotel is only present on three sides. I was on the roof just above the last row of windows on top. The building is actually 23 stories and is 268 feet to the top of the highest finial. It is the city’s 11th tallest building. The weather was cloudy and visibility was not at its best, but I hope all of you enjoy the view. I want to thank the management of the hotel for allowing me access to the roof. There are buildings around the hotel, but they are fairly low rise, and I chose not to shoot looking down. This is not a view you will get if you rent a room.

Finials and HVAC Equipment
http://www.fortwortharchitecture.com/finials.jpg

The unlimited views from this roof are to the south, west, and north. We will start with looking south at The Convention Center (1968, with additions in 1983, 2002, & 2003)
http://www.fortwortharchitecture.com...blackstone.jpg

Looking southwest along 7th Street, featuring the Star-Telegram Building (1930), the Fort Worth Club (1926), the city’s tallest, Burnett Plaza (1983), 500 W. 7th (1961), and the Petroleum Building (1927)
http://www.fortwortharchitecture.com...blackstone.jpg

This is the Star-Telegram Building, which was originally constructed for The Fair Department Store in 1930. It is a mix of Art Deco and Gothic styles.
http://www.fortwortharchitecture.com...blackstone.jpg

The Fort Worth Club:
http://www.fortwortharchitecture.com...blackstone.jpg

The Tower:
http://www.fortwortharchitecture.com...blackstone.jpg

Sinclair Building.
http://www.fortwortharchitecture.com...blackstone.jpg

Here's the view looking back toward the Blackstone, taken a few years ago from the roof of the Sinclair Building.
http://www.fortwortharchitecture.com/blackstone2.jpg

The Renaissance Worthington Hotel
http://www.fortwortharchitecture.com...blackstone.jpg

Looking north on Main Street at The Tarrant County Courthouse:
http://www.fortwortharchitecture.com...blackstone.jpg

City Center Towers:
http://www.fortwortharchitecture.com...blackstone.jpg

Finally, the new Sundance Square Plaza, only five days away from opening at that time. Note the lack of pavers actually laid in the plaza on Monday.
http://www.fortwortharchitecture.com...blackstone.jpg

For photos of the new Sundance Square Plaza, please go to this thread:
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...91#post6325891

Enjoyed these views taken from the top of the Blackstone Hotel. Thanks for sharing.

The Blackstone Hotel is a very pretty historic building. I like the pinnacles in its roof and, of course, the views from above.

Congrats and greetings from Madrid, Spain.:tup:

Very nice. Those finials are beautiful.

Nice pics ! can you see Dallas skyline from Fort Worth ?

Thanks for the comments. I was up there without a camera on the 7th of October and it was a perfectly clear day. You could see the skyline of Dallas when you looked between the upper portions of the building and 777 Main across the street to the south.

Thank you for the photos John R! Fort Worth does not generally get the love it deserves, IMHO. Looks like Sundance Square Plaza will be a great asset based on some of the photos of the final product.

The set sort of reminds me of an experience I had a few years back when I was able to tour the Chase Building (ex Gulf Building) in Houston. Similar view from roof with the design elements of the building in front of you, and the day itself was similar in appearance.

goota love ft. worth -- interesting views. how did you get access up there?

I'm Chairman of Historic Fort Worth, Inc., the city's largest preservation organization and we own a facade easement on the building. Our easement requires periodic inspections of the exterior of the building. I'm also an architect and I went up there with another architect and a an architect/engineer who are involved in our organization. We all instantly made friends with the management team, so I asked to go back with a camera.

Love it.

I have already asked to come back on a clear day. The view is pretty nice, but you really can't see much more than downtown because of the taller buildings and the upper levels of the hotel blocking the view.

I loved your two photo threads. I worked one summer in the 70s in downtown Fort Worth (National Weather Service), but at that time the downtown area had not come alive. It was mainly a place people went to during the day to work, but that was about it. How things have changed!

Ft. Worth has some great older architecture, and in great condition to boot.

We now have an active downtown, a totally reborn West 7th Street, and a thriving near Southside. The Stock Yards have been a tourist draw for years, and there are some great restaurants and bars in that area. Fort Worth has really changed since the 1970's.

The Texas Society of Architects had their annual convention in town this week, and I led two walking tours through downtown. It was a lot of fun. I covered all of the buildings that you can see in these photographs.

I would highly encourage any of you to come visit the city.