714 Main Street (Fort Worth,Texas)

 office building, 1921_construction

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(formerly Transport Life Building) 1920-21; 1988 (FWHSE)
This 24 story building was designed by Sanguinet & Staats with Mauran, Russell, and Crowell as Associate Architects Westlake Construction Co. of St. Louis was the General Contractor. When it opened, and for a short time after, it was the Tallest Building in Texas. The building, originally built for the Farmers and Mechanics National Bank, featured 4 story arched windows on its base and arched windows on the 24th floor. The bank later became the Fort Worth National Bank. In 1950, the building was sold to Continental Life Insurance Company, and the building was renamed. In 1952, the bank moved across 7th Street and in the early 1960's, the terra cotta and granite base of the building was removed and replaced by blue Mexican tile and a glass curtain wall. The old bank interior was removed to accommodate retail uses. Tom Stanley was the architect of the renovations and Childs Construction was the contractor. Also in the 1960's Conoco had offices within the building and they erected a large revolving sign of their logo on the roof. In 1988, Continental Life was bought by Transport Life, and again the building was renamed. The new owners hired Omniplan Architects of Dallas to design a new base to the building that gave the feel of the original. Henry C. Beck was the contractor for this project. In 1997, Transport Life moved out, leaving the building vacant. Several deals to purchase the building have fallen through. In January of 2004, the building was purchased by a local developer and plans call for the skyscraper to be converted into 70 loft apartments. The architects for the loft conversion are Page Southerland Page Architects. The exterior restoration architects are Carter+Burgess of Fort Worth.