MAGNOLIA AVENUE MAKEOVER


Have you driven down Magnolia Ave. lately? Attention has been focused there lately because of the new apartments proposed by the Phoenix Group on the land and surrounding lots vacated by the old Magnolia Christian Church. The Phoenix Group is the Dallas company who is building the apartments just west of down town along 7th Street. After getting the zoning approved and the neighborhoods excited about the new development, the Phoenix Group has changed its mind and is not going to build along Magnolia Ave. at least not at this time.

However, take a trip to Magnolia anyway and notice all the opportunities to eat. In the blocks between 8th Avenue and Hemphill there are eleven places to get a meal, and eleven different types of cuisine. My husband, Ted, and I have been making an effort to try out all of them. It is a hard job but someone has to do it. I think his favorite for lunch is Hot Damn Tamales and mine are B.J. Keefer's and Jerry Van Dyke's Soda Shoppe. Of course, the Paris Coffee Shop is a Fort Worth landmark and favorite breakfast and lunch place.

I remember in my childhood the Martha Washington Candy and Ice Cream Factory on Magnolia and the New Orleans style restaurant in an old house across the street where my parents loved the oysters and I liked only the oyster crackers. Many summer evenings were spent at the open air watermelon stand further down the street where my sisters and I felt perfectly free to spit seeds at each other.

The revitalization of Magnolia Ave. is largely due to the efforts of commercial Realtor, Joan Kline. Joan helped save Ryan Place years ago and has been active in preservation ever since. Linda Clarke in Joan's office, also is a big player in saving streets, working now on the Berry Street Initiative - more about that in another newsletter.
(October, 1999, No. 16)

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