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DEVELOPMENTS IN FORT WORTH
Fort Worth, Texas - now the 17th-largest city in the United States (population: 661,850) - is booming, with tourism bringing approximately 9.5 million visitors and contributing nearly $1.3 billion in direct spending annually to the city's economy. Major developments include new attractions, events, facilities and infrastructure improvements, which enhances the city's appeal as a premier destination in the state of Texas.
Omni Fort Worth Hotel – Convention Center Headquarter Hotel
Opens late 2008
Omni Hotels and the City of Fort Worth are currently constructing a 608-room, first-class property adjacent to the Fort Worth Convention Center. The plan calls for Omni to build a $115 million, 38-story hotel with 48,000 square feet of meeting space, two restaurants, two ballrooms, and other first-class amenities. The plan also includes 97 condominiums to be built atop the hotel. The new convention center headquarter hotel will complement the $75 million renovation and expansion at the Fort Worth Convention Center, which opened May 2003.
Web: www.omnihotels.com
Fort Worth Museum of Science and History – New Building
Completes 2009
The Fort Worth Museum of Science and History announced it will build a new facility on its current site and has selected the internationally acclaimed architectural firm Legorreta + Legorreta to design it. Construction is expected to begin in 2007 with completion in 2009. To strengthen the museum's presentation of history, the expansion will also incorporate a major new center for the Cattle Raisers Museum. Visitors entering the expansive complex will be immersed in the dynamic history of the cattle and ranching industry in Texas and the Southwest. During construction, the Omni Theater, an IMAX® dome, will remain open.
Web: www.fortworthmuseum.org
Hilton Fort Worth
Completed April 2006
The newly re-flagged Hilton Fort Worth, located downtown adjacent to the Fort Worth Convention Center, has completed an extensive $10.5 million renovation to its guest rooms, common areas and meeting spaces. All 294 guest rooms and suites within the 13-story historic hotel built in 1921 are fully refurbished. Enhancements include a photography display honoring President John F. Kennedy, who spent his last night at the hotel in 1963.
Embassy Suites Fort Worth
Now Open
An Embassy Suites Hotel in downtown Fort Worth will open its doors in March following an expansive renovation in the site of a former hotel. The new property will feature 156 two-room suites, more than 6,000 square feet of event function space, and a 6th-floor atrium area. The hotel sits adjacent to the Bass Performance Hall and Sundance Square, the popular downtown entertainment district.
Sheraton Fort Worth Hotel
Opens mid 2008
Presidio Hotel Group assumed ownership of the former Plaza Hotel Fort Worth and has launched a $46 million renovation of the hotel's two 12-story towers, including guest rooms and suites, public areas and meeting spaces, spa amenities and restaurants. It will reopen as the 434-room Sheraton Fort Worth Hotel. The property sits in close proximity to the Fort Worth Convention Center.
Ashton Depot
Completed
The former Santa Fe Train Depot has been transformed into a 10,000 square-foot events hall for wedding receptions, banquets and corporate functions. The Depot seats up to 350 and can host up to 500 people. A 3,500 square-foot patio is also available for outdoor events. The renovated Depot includes 3 custom-made chandeliers and three of the building's original stained-glass window panels that depict the history of transportation at the time the Depot was built.
Texas Civil War Museum
Opened January 2006
The Texas Civil War Museum's new 15,500-square-foot facility is located in northwest Fort Worth and houses one of the largest private collections of Civil War artifacts in the nation and the largest collection west of the Mississippi River. Items included in the collection include 60 prized flags and many uniforms, guns, swords, and personal items used by both Union and Confederate soldiers from Texas and around the nation. The museum also contains an outstanding collection of Victorian-era dresses.
Web: www.texascivilwarmuseum.com
Sid Richardson Museum – renovation and expansion
Opened November 2006
The Sid Richardson Museum, which boasts more than 60 paintings by premier Western artists Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell, re-opened in November 2006. Designed by David M. Schwarz of Washington, D.C., the extensive facelift to the museum included a more pedestrian-friendly façade, reconfigured gallery space, an enlarged museum store, and an additional 1,800 square feet of ground-floor space, creating a group entrance, education facilities, and visitor amenities. The celebrated museum is located in downtown's Sundance Square and welcomes more than 50,000 visitors annually from around the world.
Web: www.sidrmuseum.org
International terminal & Skylink at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport
Opened July 2005
The new two-million-square-foot consolidated International Terminal D provides DFW’s fastest growing passenger traffic segment with a world-class facility. All international arrivals and departures, regardless of carrier, will be consolidated into this one terminal, and is expected to welcome 32,000 passengers daily. In addition, the world’s largest airport high-speed train, called Skylink, transports visitors quickly between all DFW terminals, keeping the average ride time to five minutes. The bi-directional Skylink operates on train tracks that are an average of 50 feet above ground. The new terminal and Skylink are components of a $2.7 billion Capital Development Program.
Web: www.dfwairport.com
Trinity UpTown
In Progress
Trinity Uptown is transforming an 800-acre area immediately north of downtown Fort Worth into a vibrant waterfront development - in essence, doubling the size of downtown. A $435 million public infrastructure project will provide additional flood protection and dramatically increase access to the river, opening the area for economic revitalization, recreational opportunities, and ecosystem enhancements. An envisioned 10,000 housing units and 3 million square feet of commercial, retail, and educational space will make it possible for Fort Worth residents to live, work, shop, play, and learn near the river.
Web: www.trinityrivervision.org
Lancaster Avenue Corridor Redevelopment
Scheduled Completion 2006
Lancaster Avenue, a major east-west route in the south end of downtown, is under transformation to a grand tree-lined, pedestrian-friendly corridor. The $14 million roadway project, where an I-30 overpass once stood until removal in 2001, is expected to spur development of an urban village with shops on the street level and offices and apartments on the top floors. Lancaster Avenue will boast landscaping and a new grassy median and may include public art fixtures.
AmeriSuites Historic Stockyards Hotel
Opened June 2005
A $7.1 million AmeriSuites hotel property is open in the heart of the Stockyards National Historic District, adjacent to Stockyards Station and the Visitors Information Center on East Exchange Avenue. The five-story, 102-room hotel is constructed in a Western architectural style.
This is not a complete listing of all recent and future tourism developments in the City of Fort Worth, Texas. For a complete tourism developments listing, click here
Contact:
Kelly Campbell, Director of Marketing Communications
Fort Worth Convention & Visitors Bureau
Phone: 817-698-7841 (direct) or 800-433-5747, ext. 232
Email: kellycampbell@fortworth.com
www.fortworth.com
(Updated: April 12, 2007)
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