Historic group wants FWISD to save football field, 2 buildings: ‘They deserve a future’
A group dedicated to preserving Fort Worth’s history is calling on school officials to protect three buildings the district hopes to soon sell.
The buildings: Farrington Field, the Jack A. Billingsley Field House and the Boulevard Heights Transition Center.
“We are good with them being sold,” said Jerre Tracy, executive director of the non-profit group Historic Fort Worth. “But we would like the FWISD to protect these historic buildings … so the next owner will be as good to those buildings and structures as the FWISD has been.”
School officials announced late last year that they hope to sell 18 properties, including the district’s administration building. Estimates showed the total sales could generate at least $60 million to build a new administration building and potentially two new football stadiums.
Historic Fort Worth recently published a statement about the group’s position on the proposed property sale, noting that a number of historic structures in Fort Worth are being lost to development. They asked the school district to work to landmark “their most iconic buildings before they are altered or sold.”
Superintendent Kent Scribner told the Star-Telegram that there has been a review of these buildings and properties. And he said officials are working to create a “smarter and more efficient” district.
But in a written statement, he didn’t directly respond to the concerns or preservation request brought up by Historic Fort Worth.
“This is a lengthy process and we are working to maximize the immediate, as well as the long-term, benefits for all Fort Worth ISD students,” Scribner said in the statement.
Historic Fort Worth wants to see the three structures designated as Fort Worth Historic and Cultural Landmarks and as recorded Texas Historic Landmarks — or put on the National Register of Historic Places.
The buildings “have been part of our city for 70-100 years, and they deserve a future in it,” the memo stated.
Tracy said it is always preferred that a building is used for what it was originally designed.
“This is a golden opportunity for Fort Worth ISD to be the leader in stewardship of historical buildings,” Tracy said.
But some wonder who might want to buy the properties if there were development restrictions on them.
“Any private group or company that ... would buy and either retrofit these classic buildings or tear them down for a newer and higher use, highest and best use concept,” should dominate, said John S. Baen, a real estate professor at the University of North Texas.
Preservation request
Here’s a look at the three structures Historic Fort Worth said are “designation worthy.”
Farrington Field: The iconic 1939 football stadium on University Drive made the group’s Most Endangered List five times. “People love that amazing structure,” Tracy said. “It has such a legacy.”
School officials maintain some parts of this athletic complex, including the Farrington frieze and columns, as well as the oak trees lining University Drive and Lancaster Avenue, would have some protections and be required to be preserved. But the bulk of the 18,500-seat stadium could be torn down to make way for development in a highly desirable part of town.
“The well-maintained Farrington Field is vulnerable without local designation protection especially with the dense, new development from Lancaster Avenue to White Settlement Road, and rising property values,” wrote Historic Fort Worth.
Scribner noted that Farrington Field would need “tens of millions of dollars in updates.” He pointed out that the school district has talked with many in the community about the stadium, including officials with Historic Fort Worth. Architect Michael Bennett and his firm, Bennett Benner Partners, have designed a “welcoming green space and plaza that celebrates the history of Farrington Field,” he said.
The Billingsley Field House, behind Farrington Field. School officials have said the building, built in 1953, is near the end of its lifespan and would cost about $10 million to repair. It is used for basketball, volleyball and wrestling, and could be the site of the future school district administration building.
Historic Fort Worth said the building “retains a great deal of its integrity with its original concrete bleachers with wood-plank seats, a phone booth with a wood door, and dressing rooms with their original wood benches and wood clothes cubby.”
The Boulevard Heights Transition Center, which is made up of three buildings including the original Arlington Heights High School building.
The three buildings were built in 1909, 1922 and 1954 and have been known as the Arlington Heights Elementary School, Arlington Heights Public School Arlington Heights Junior High School and Arlington Heights High School.
“Preservation is complicated, but there are so many opportunities,” Tracy said of all three structures.
This story was originally published January 29, 2020 at 6:00 AM.
