‘The Heart of Fort Worth’
July 1,2015
Reposted from Cleburne Times
By Ashley Rose/reporter@trcle.com
President and CEO of the Sundance Square management team Johnny Campbell was the guest speaker Thursday at the Keene Chamber of Commerce membership luncheon at the Keene Senior Citizens Center.
Since 2001, Campbell has been responsible for the strategic planning, financing and development for the 35-block, 42 building project in downtown Fort Worth.
Campbell stressed the importance of preserving the heritage and history of the city of Fort Worth.
“Sundance Square is the center of the city,” Campbell said. “It’s the identity of the city.”
The square has many shopping centers, places to eat and office buildings. Over the years, it’s been rebuilt to account for traffic patterns, company usage and to please occupants.
There are four types of people that come around the square: residents, office workers, “day trippers” and tourists, Campbell said.
“The people are really the ones programming the city,” Campbell said. “Every decision we make is for them.”
He discussed four reasons people don’t go downtown in cities: it’s too dangerous, there’s no parking, it’s dirty and there’s weird people. He said he wants to change people’s perspective about downtown.
“Our goal is to have a healthy, stable, and sustainable city,” Campbell said. “We don’t build stuff just to build stuff. We build stuff when the market needs stuff.”
The square hosts many events, including the Christmas tree lighting ceremony, New Year’s Eve party and movie nights every Wednesday.
“We want to make a jewel that people want to see,” Campbell said. “Just a little bit of magic.”