Articles for September 17th, 2009
Fort Worth Misses Hell’s Half Acre
There’s a thoughtful post today on FortWorthology about the greatest loss to Fort Worth’s history. Their answer is the decimation of Hell’s Half Acre, downtown’s “red light” district until the 1960s.
It’s worth a look for the amazing contrast of two photos of the south end of downtown Fort Worth — one from 1956, the other from Google Earth (a few years ago). You’ll see an unfortunate transformation:
The biggest change you’d see now is the completed Omni Hotel, which is just under construction in this image. This shows the amount of change and destruction brought to the south end: block after block after block of urban, humanly-scaled buildings, replaced by massive superblocks (such as the Convention Center) that impede walkability, overscaled architecture, and seas of storage for cars. The loss of density and walkable fabric is incredible.
You’ll remember that Wick argued for human scale in downtown Dallas.
Staubach To Property Pros: Keep Your Chins Up
At a commercial real estate forum hosted here today by Jones Lang LaSalle, most everyone said this continues to be a “challenging” time for the property business. According to a JLL report rents are down, loans can’t be refinanced and most properties purchased in 2005-07 have no equity left. So it was left to Roger Staubach–the company’s executive chairman, Americas–to give everyone a pep talk. The former Dallas Cowboys QB likened the current climate to the 1971 season, when the ‘Boys sputtered to a 4-3 start because the team hadn’t jelled yet. They were driving Tom Landry crazy, Staubach said, until they suddenly began working together as a team, then proceeded to win 10 games in a row–including the Super Bowl. “When you get the right people in the right places, miracles happen,” Staubach told the crowd of about 300. “Challenges bring out the best in all of us.” He’s right, of course. And it may take a miracle to work through this fix.
Krista Nightengale, After Years of Trying, Forces Eric Celeste Out of His Job at D Magazine
You’ve seen her name on the blog already, but I would like to formally introduce you to the FrontBurner Nation the newest member of your D Magazine staff. Her name is Krista Nightengale. She grew up on a farm in one of those fly-over states. She has actually worked cattle and driven a grain cart and so forth. She’s half Amish. She graduated from OU. She can belch the entire alphabet while drinking a diet Cherry Coke. Some of this is actually true. As you can tell from this picture of Krista, her cubicle is way too organized. She will be a force of lightness and good for the magazine. The typo that made it into the October issue would not have breached our defenses if Krista had been working here when we put that thing together. In short, she’s a huge improvement over Eric Celeste, whose job she has been trying to steal for two years.
“Eric is leaving?” you ask? Yes, finally — although he’s not going far enough away. Eric has taken a position with our custom publishing division. I’m not exactly sure what he does now. All I know is, I see him walking around the office with a Bluetooth, yelling, “Gimme some decent prospects! If I had a list of good prospects, I could sell this s—!” Only he doesn’t say it with dashes. Also, he’s doing that finger-gun-point-and-wink thing a lot and he’s “taking stuff offline” and he’s “putting out fires” and he’s “developing strategic partnerships for vertical platforms.” Stuff like that.
In the comments, I invite you to offer warm greetings to Krista and kick Eric in the jeans.
Erin Wasson: “The Homeless Are Pulling Out, Like, Crazy Looks!”
An alert FBvian points our attention to this video of Erin Wasson from New York Fashion Week. Fast forward to about the one-minute mark to hear her opinion about who throws down the most stylish look.
Gordon Keith Uses Hand To Make Point With Stunned Drew Barrymore
(More pics of Drew, Emmitt Smith, and other stylish night owls can be found here, thanks to Nightlife Maven Kyle Kearbey. Go look. And, yes, as noted before, I am a 10-year-old.)
Aston Martin Drops the Top on Bond’s Ride
James Bond drove a DBS, but his wasn’t a convertible. Now, aiming to expand its lineup, Aston Martin is out with a DBS ragtop called the Volante, which made its debut with a splash here last night at Aston Martin of Dallas (pictured). Local Aston honcho Kurt Fegraeus, who runs the brand’s third-largest U.S. dealership, says he’ll get his hands on a dozen of the $285,000 cars this year. To kick things off, he’s offering test drives of the Volante today out of the Beretta Gallery store in Highland Park Village. While DFW Aston sales have been off slightly because of the recession, Fegraeus didn’t sound worried Wednesday night about moving this new version of 007’s favorite car. “We’ll sell two tomorrow,” he said.
Dalton Sherman Scores Hug From Jenna Bush Hager
Tomorrow morning, Dallas ISD’s own Dalton Sherman will appear on The Today Show. Here’s a pic of him hugging it out with Hager, who is now a correspondent for the show. And here’s what the district says of Sherman’s appearance:
Student and speaker extraordinaire Dalton Sherman will be featured tomorrow, Sept. 18, on NBC’s The Today Show. Dalton, who is now a student at Dallas Environmental Science Academy, and his family were interviewed last week by new Today Show correspondent Jenna Bush Hager.
Since being the surprise keynote speaker at last year’s convocation held at the American Airlines Center, Dalton has become somewhat of a celebrity. He has appeared on Oprah and Ellen and has delivered speeches throughout the country. This past summer, Kids Who Care Inc. of Fort Worth created a musical that was inspired by his speech called District XI: Believe in Me. Dalton and his brother Demosthenes are now members of the production’s cast. The next performance is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 2, at the Scott Theatre in Fort Worth.
Baylor, Harris Methodist, Beryl Best Places to Work
Congratulations to local outfits Baylor Health Care System, the Harris Methodist Southlake Center for Diagnostics & Surgery, and the Beryl Cos. (in Bedford), for being among the 100 Best Places to Work in Health Care, according to Modern Healthcare Magazine.
Baylor President and CEO Joel Allison was recently named the 29th Most Powerful Man in Health Care by the same publication. Beryl Cos. CEO Paul Spiegelman was one of 34 Great Entrepreneurs recognized in the July issue of D CEO. And I’m sure the folks over at Harris Methodist Southlake are good people.
OK, any disgruntled employees of these companies, our comments are open for your horror stories.
The Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek in Dallas Hires a New Chef:
Yow. Zah. Big news from the Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek: They’ve hired big-time chef Bruno Davaillon.
Texas Tribune Wants You as a Member
Set to launch November 3, the new state-wide online news service is soliciting 1,000 founding members. Here’s what it’s all about. Here’s the shorter version:
“…roiling change and uncertainty about the industry’s future have created an unprecedented opportunity to explore new business models and experiment with both the creation and presentation of content. We mean to do the public’s business by encouraging civic engagement and civil discourse. By donating to the Texas Tribune, you join us in that endeavor.”
I became a member because I think the state needs it. Consider plunking your 50 bucks on the line with me. (Btw, guys, I like your logo. Maybe TxDot would consider hiring the designer to redo our awful Texas license plates.)
Kwame Kilpatrick Isn’t Home in Southlake
The best passages in today’s Detroit News story about disgraced former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who now lives in Southlake and works in Downtown Dallas:
Beneath the mansion’s arched brick entryway, two imposing oak doors tower over a gold-colored welcome mat bearing a script letter “K.” The doorbell chimes an elegant melody. Seconds later, a familiar baritone calls out from behind the portside door’s peephole:
“Can I help you?”
“Mr. Kilpatrick?”
“Yeah?” His tone is suspicious.
“I’m with The Detroit News. I’d like to –”
“Uh-uh. You need to leave.” …
“Isn’t there anything you’d like to say to the people of Detroit?”
There was a pause. (more…)
Mini-Review: “The Black Monk” at Undermain
I missed its debut in the spring but by reprising David Rabe’s adaptation of Chekhov’s short story, the Undermain has thoughtfully allowed me to catch up. I was thrilled to be able to see it. Every actor was perfectly cast; Bruce DuBose set the tone with a performance that was at once bombastic, subtle, and comic. Jerome Weeks’s review of the original production is here, and Ed Townley’s is here. The play runs Wed-Sat for the next three weeks. Go here for tickets.
Episcopal Civil War in Fort Worth
“Anglican Curmudgeon” is a great name for a blog. It’d also be a great name for a rock band. That’s my first takeaway from this excruciatingly detailed account of the latest court battle between the two factions that both claim to be the legitimate Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth. Last fall, the Diocese under Bishop Jack Iker voted to sever its affiliation with the Episcopal Church USA over the ordination of an openly gay bishop. They aligned themselves with the Province of the Southern Cone (another great band name), based in Argentina, instead.
The ECUSA in February created its own Diocese of Fort Worth. And the two organizations have been duking it over who has the right to call itself the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth, and who therefore owns the diocesan property. The two groups disagree on the significance of what happened yesterday.
Which brings me to my more important takeaway. Let us count our blessings that we’re fortunate enough to live in a land where a dispute like this can now be handled peacably in the courts. Let us hope that someday everyone in our world can too.
Leading Off (09/17/09)
1. When life hands you lemons, make lemonade. When Southwest Airlines takes away lemons to save $100,000, well, you’re out of luck. Unless you like limes, then you can make limeade.
2. Speaking of being handed lemons, the Court ruled it wouldn’t consider the issue of a romantic relationship between a judge and prosecutor in Charles Dean Hood’s capital murder case. In other death row news, a man was executed last night and two more are scheduled within the next week, which reminds me of this post by Wick—the article by David Gann at the New Yorker is a great read and a bit of a downer.
3. As hard as I try, I can’t tie this to lemons, or limes. So I’ll just give you the news. A California law school did a study and found evidence of racial profiling in Irving. Irving’s mayor isn’t too happy with the results. I guess maybe he can use those limes at happy hour to drink away his sorrows. There. Tied it in.
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