Starbucks is adding a downtown Fort Worth location. This one’s in a former museum
Starbucks Coffee plans to open a location in a historic downtown Fort Worth fire station last used as a small local history museum, according to a permit application.
Old Fire Station No. 1., built in 1907 at 215 Commerce St., will house a Starbucks under an application filed with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.
A City Center official declined to comment. A Starbucks Coffee spokesman said the company had no further information.
It was not clear whether the Starbucks would replace or join either of two other locations downtown, in Sundance Square Plaza and in the Omni Fort Worth hotel.
(A third Starbucks in the Hilton Fort Worth has closed.)
The application describes a 2,460-square-foot Starbucks “in an existing historic firehouse,” including interior partitions and equipment.
No change to the exterior is described. Remodeling is estimated at $373,756.
The old fire station, nestled under a corner of the Wells Fargo Tower, was remodeled in 1982, according to fortwortharchitecture.com.
It operated until 2016 as the history exhibit “150 Years of Fort Worth,” showing artifacts from the Fort Worth Museum of Science & History.
“Fire Station No. 1 is a rare space in downtown,” Andy Taft, president of Downtown Fort Worth Inc., wrote by email. “It served well for years as a museum of Fort Worth’s history so reactivation will bring will bring welcome life back to that corner intersection.”
A restaurant, 203 Cafe, operates upstairs.
This story was originally published May 3, 2021 at 2:34 PM.
