As reported onFort Worthology, the large metal poles which once held a billboard at the Cultural District intersection of 7th, Camp Bowie, University, and Bailey but which were stripped clean and bent over by the 2000 tornado are at last being reinstalled in front of the new Museum Place Post Office. Reader Jeff W. sent me this shot of the reinstallation underway now.

The poles will form the centerpiece of a new public plaza in front of the Post Office. The front wall of the building itself (seen in the photo covered in white Tyvek wrap) will be covered by ceramic tiles with a large mural of a thunderstorm crossing the prairie, along with the words “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” The Post Office and the plaza are both still under construction as part of the big Museum Place development.

Personally, I’m very happy to see the distinctive poles reinstalled as a piece of public art. They are an incredible reminder of the power of nature (don’t forget, they were bent simply by the force of wind) and an eye-catching landmark for the rapidly redeveloping Cultural District. It’s great to see a bit of the area’s history brought back as a centerpiece of a development that points towards its future.

It’s been a while since the last time I did one of these big development roundups, so let’s do another one, covering the current hotbed of activity - the 7th Street corridor between downtown and the museums. A lot has changed since the last time I wrote about these developments, so let’s dive right in.

Museum Place is really making significant strides in construction these days. The area around the development is a world of torn-up pavement, orange cones, fences, and cranes as work steadily moves from the big 7th/University/Camp Bowie/Bailey intersection back into the neighborhood.

Above, the big building of the development, One Museum Place, is getting more glass installed as its facade installation continues. This building will be home to ground-level retail, office space, and condos on the upper two floors.

[Read more]

Another week of posts at West & Clear’s sister site Fort Worthology, and it’s been a busy week in Fort Worth urban development. Here’s some of what’s been going on since last Thursday:

• Another building falls to the Museum Place development - now they’re making way for the Aloft Hotel on Arch Adams between 7th & Camp Bowie.
• So7’s Shops & Lofts are moving ahead at a good clip.
• I took a look at the loft apartments in the Kress Building downtown.
• Finally, I wrote a big roundup on the status of various bits of the Trinity River Vision.

Last Friday’s Modern ‘Til Midnight went off well, as always. Steph and I worked our way over a little after 7:30, which meant we got there just in time to enjoy the musical stylings of The Theater Fire. Having never heard these guys before, I must say I enjoyed their set very much. Their music is more or less unclassifiable, blending a wide variety of elements and instruments (mariachi horns, accordion, mandolin, etc.). They pretty much rock. I grabbed both their albums off iTunes the next day. (The dancing cowboy hippies that accompanied their set were entertaining, as well.)

[Read more]

Don’t forget - tonight is Modern ‘Til Midnight, from 6:00 PM to, well, midnight (hence the name). Music will be many and varied - Yellow Fever, The Theater Fire, Trimble Tech High School Marching Band (directed by Earnest Colvin playing a composition by Patrick Grant), PPT, and Strange Fruit Project. Food and drinks. Admission is $15, or FREE for Modern members.

I’ll be there from about 7:30 or so onwards. Look for the guy in the hat, as usual. Say hi!

It’s going to be a beautiful weekend in the Panther City, and to celebrate, here’s a listing of the music-type events going on throughout our urban core. This is, of course, not listing the guitar-playing hippy or out-of-tune keyboard playing guy who usually inhabit Houston Street in Sundance Square, but I figure their presence goes without saying.

This weekend’s the Main Street Arts Festival, and there’s plenty of live music to go around. Let’s dive right in…

Main Street Arts Festival

Sundance Square Main Stage, Friday:
Can Crush, Trey & The Tritones, Bonnie and Nick Morris, The Sidemen, Beatlegras, Ruthie Foster, The Wailers
Sundance Square Main Stage, Saturday:
Crawfish Band, Breggett Rideau, Mars Hill Band, Red and the Red Hots, Annagrey, Poo Live Crew, Terrance Simien, Dr. John
Sundance Square Main Stage, Sunday:
T-Richard & the Zydeco Stingrays, Joe Pat Hennen, Me & My Monkey, 2tone, Brave Combo

WaMu Stage, Friday:
Bar H Cowboys, Ricki Derek & the Vegas Six, Special Edition, FM, Jim Suler & Monkey Beat, Terri Hendrix, Cowboy Mouth
WaMu Stage, Saturday:
Texas Gypsies, Professor D, 4 Way Street, Joseph Vincelli, Party Crashers, Johnny Red & the Roosters, Quebe Sisters Band, Son Volt
WaMu Stage, Sunday:
Panhandlers Steel Drum Band, 3 Fools on 3 Stools, Fingerprints Band, Latin Express, Grupo Fantasma

Target Performing Arts Stage, Friday:
Michael Bashaw’s Theatre of Sound, Yo Yo People, Ballet Folklorico de Fort Worth, Mark Nizer, Michael Bashaw’s Theatre of Sound, Yo Yo People, Michael Bashaw’s Theatre of Sound, Mark Nizer
Target Performing Arts Stage, Saturday:
Michael Bashaw’s Theatre of Sound, Ballet Folklorico de Fort Worth, Yo Yo People, Mark Nizer, Michael Bashaw’s Theatre of Sound, Drop Top Rockets, Mark Nizer, Michael Bashaw’s Theatre of Sound
Target Performing Arts Stage, Sunday:
The Faith Band, Michael Bashaw’s Theatre of Sound, Yo Yo People, Ballet Folklorico de Fort Worth, Michael Bashaw’s Theatre of Sound

Street Performances, Friday:
Chisholm Trail Cowboys, Jim’s Jazz Band, Yo Yo People, Island Boogie, Charley Lee
Street Performances, Saturday:
Chisolm Trail Cowboys, Yo Yo People, Scott Whitfield Dixieland, The Flow, Prairie Moon, Eric Bailey Bagpipes, Cora Connection, Dean Strickland, Yo Yo People, Musical Saw
Street Performances, Sunday:
Chisolm Trail Cowboys, Yo Yo People, Tenacious Root, Delta Kings, The Flow, Prairie Moon, Eric Bailey Bagpipes, Yo Yo People, Cora Connection, Dean Strickland, Musical Saw

Scat Jazz Lounge | Map
Ricki Derek - Friday - 9:00 PM
The Dave Monsch Quartet - Saturday - 9:00 PM

Bass Performance Hall | Map
No concerts scheduled - Dracula by the Texas Ballet Theater runs Friday at 8:00 PM, Saturday at 2:00 PM and 8:00 PM, and Sunday at 2:00 PM

McDavid Studio | Map
Geoff Muldaur & Stephen Bruton - Friday - 7:00 PM

Van Cliburn Hall | Map
No performances scheduled.

The Flying Saucer | Map
Sittin’ Duck - Friday - 9:30 PM
Velvet Love Box - Saturday - 9:30 PM
Mike Richardson - Sunday

The Pour House | Map
Johnie Blanco - Friday
Turning Trixie - Saturday

8.0 | Map
The Spazmatics - Friday
Hearsay - Saturday
Main Street Arts Festival Live Music - Sunday

The Modern Art Museum Of Fort Worth | Map
Modern ‘Til Midnight: Yellow Fever, The Theater Fire, Trimble Tech High School Marching Band w/ Earnest Colvin, PPT, Strange Fruit Project - Friday - 6:00 PM

Fred’s | Map
Scott Copeland - Friday
100 Damned Guns w/ The AM Ramblers and The Whiskey Folk Ramblers - Saturday
Magee Payne and Kurt South - Sunday morning
St. Frinatra - Sunday evening

Lola’s | Map
Chatterton, The Black, Sam Anderson and the Thrift Store Troubadours, Adam Faucett - Friday - 9:00 PM
The Burning Hotels, Throw Me The Statue, The Ruby Suns, The Always Ready - Saturday - 9:00 PM
Catfish Whiskey, Vagabond King, KatsuK, Congratulations, Shuttle, Tarantula Pants, Jordan Mycoskie and the Fire Breathing Fish - Sunday - 2:00 PM

The Chat Room | Map
Maps, Shuttle, Magnets - Saturday
Free Show!!! Pffft! - Sunday

The Fairmount | Map
Chris Knight w/ Mando Saenz - Friday
TBA - Saturday
JR Whitfield - Sunday

1919 Hemphill | Map
Anchors and Teeth, Pools - Friday

The Aardvark | Map
Merkin, Lade, Revolution of Knowledge, Automorrow - Friday - 8:30 PM
Strongpoint, Radioking, Broka’s Bliss, Nine Month Fall - Saturday - 8:30 PM

The Moon | Map
Darth Vato w/ Eleven Fingered Charlie - Friday
4 Way Street - Saturday

The Ridglea Theater | Map
Dillinger, Escape Plan, The Bled, Dear Life, Shaolin Death Squad - Friday
Withheld, Blinded We Fall, Fear of Self, Mod Effect, Dawn Over Zero, Set Adrift - Saturday
Southern Slaughter Fest - 10+ Bands - Sunday - 2:30 PM

As always, if there’s something I missed, please let me know in the comments!

The area shown in the red circle above is the subject in question - as part of the Museum Place development, a public plaza is will be constructed at the reworked intersection of West 7th Street and Arch Adams (Map). How can a plaza occupy the middle of a street? Read on and find out - it’s an interesting bit of urban design.

The problem is thus - how to create a large public space in the development, while not taking too much room from the buildings themselves? You could certainly close off a street to do so, but you’d have to close off a smaller street, and it’s likely to be too out-of-the-way to get much use. No, the plaza needs to be the heart of the development. That means 7th Street - but you can’t permanently close off 7th. It’s too crucial to the connectivity of the area. A way had to be found to create a large public space that could be closed for events but left open to car traffic the rest of the time - while still slowing traffic enough that people would not feel intimidated by the sometimes speedy pace of cars on 7th.

Finally, an ingenious solution was devised. [Read more]

UPDATE: It would appear that I have fallen to an April Fool’s joke.