Ft Worth Times

The iconic blue flame atop the former Lone Star Gas Building adjacent to Fort Worth City Hall is back.

How we got here: The 20-foot-tall sign, a mainstay of the Fort Worth skyline since 1957, came down in October 2018 for restoration. Storms had damaged the historic marker to the point where it was structurally unsound.

About the landmark building: Formerly the Lone Star Gas Co. headquarters, the building is known as the City Hall Annex and houses the Water Department’s customer service lobby on the vibrantly colored ground floor. Offices for several other City departments are on the floors above.

City Architect Brian Glass provided some background on the building at 901 Monroe St.:

• The building was designed in 1929 by architect Wyatt C. Hedrick in the Art Deco style and is a historic and cultural landmark.
• Three additional floors were added to the building in 1957, the same year the blue flame was installed. The Lone Star Gas logo, featuring neon lighting, rotated until 2004.
• The City and Fort Worth Art Commission explored opportunities to restore the flame, but without a recognized artist it could not be accomplished through the arts program. By 2018, after years of freewheeling in the wind, the bearings had failed and the flame was leaning on its structural mount.
• In 2018, the City’s Historic & Cultural Landmarks Commission approved a certificate of appropriateness to allow the removal, restoration and reinstallation of the flame.
• The flame was stored at the City’s James Avenue Service Center until Property Management Department PayGo funds were identified for the restoration.
• A contractor repaired existing enamel paint, replaced neon lights with LED lights and replaced the bearings and motor to make the sign rotate again.

What’s next? With the development of Future City Hall, the City intends to sell the Annex building. Thankfully, the restored flame will welcome residents, employees and visitors downtown for years to come.

View drone footage by Fort Worth digital creator Brian Luenser.

Original source can be found here.