Starbucks is adding a downtown Fort Worth location. This one’s in a former museum
May 3,2021
See full Fort Worth Star-Telegram article by Bud Kennedy here.
Starbucks Coffee plans to open a location in a historic downtown Fort Worth fire station last used as a small history museum, according to a permit application.
Old Fire Station No. 1., 215 Commerce St., built in 1907, will house a Starbucks under an application filed with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.
A City Center official declined to comment. Starbucks Coffee’s corporate office did not respond by publication time.
It was not clear whether the Starbucks would replace or join either of two other locations downtown, in Sundance Square Plaza and in the Omni Fort Worth hotel. (A third Starbucks in the Hilton Fort Worth has closed.)
The application describes a 2,460-square-foot Starbucks “in an existing historic firehouse,” including interior partitions and equipment.
No change to the exterior is described. Remodeling is estimated at $373,756.
The old fire station, nestled under a corner of the Wells Fargo Tower, was remodeled in 1982, according to fortwortharchitecture.com.
It operated as a museum during the city’s 150th anniversary in 1999 and for years afterward, showing artifacts from the Fort Worth Museum of Science & History.
“Fire Station No. 1 is a rare space in downtown,” Andy Taft, president of Downtown Fort Worth Inc., wrote by email. “It served well for years as a museum of Fort Worth’s history so reactivation will bring will bring welcome life back to that corner intersection.”
A restaurant, 203 Cafe, operates upstairs.
Locations Mentioned: 203 Café, Omni Fort Worth Hotel, Sundance Square Plaza, Wells Fargo