The city has issued a demolition permit for a portion of the unused and dilapidated grain elevators that tower over Fort Worth’s Worth Heights neighborhood at Alice Street. Another four demolition permits are pending final approval from the city, according to records reviewed by the Fort Worth Report.
The 2.9-acre site houses 12-story grain elevators that have not been in use for more than two decades. Neighbors and the city have complained for several years about the danger posed by the dilapidated property. The property’s owners, 3500 Alice Street Trust, have not responded to repeated requests from city staff for repair or demolition of the structures.
In March, the city of Fort Worth’s Building Standards Commission unanimously declared the facility “substandard and hazardous.” The designation allows the city to knock down the silos if the property owner does not present a plan for their demolition or renovation by April 25.
According to a city report, the site has consistently “been a harborage for vagrants, criminal activities, illegal dumping and health/nuisance violations.”
During the Building Standards Commission, city officials said police have been called to the address at least 367 times since 2006, and the city has recorded 59 citizen complaints about the property in the same time frame. In 2016, a 17-year-old girl died after falling down a grain shoot inside the complex.
“This is a terrible eyesore, a blemish on our community and a blemish on all of Fort Worth,” Victoria Bargas, of the Worth Heights Neighborhood Association, said at the March meeting.
John Leija, 78, has a clear view of the abandoned grain elevators. Since 1972, he’s seen the silos tower over his backyard. Like many residents that live in the area, the grain elevators have concerned him due to teenagers and homeless residents trespassing on the vacant property.
For years, Leija said in an April interview, there have been rumors that the grain elevators were going to be torn down. Now that those rumors are coming true, he likes the idea; however, he’s concerned for his neighbors’ health, especially children, due to the debris from the demolition.
“The problem is not that they will knock them down. The problem is the dust that’s going to be released,” Leija said in Spanish. “I don’t have little children, grandchildren or anything like that (living with me), but these people do, this whole neighborhood does.”
The grain elevator complex, at 3700 Alice St. and located near the intersection of Jennings Avenue and Dickson Street, was initially built in 1923, one of several that line that north-south railroad line. By 2000, the silos were no longer in use.
In 2020, the city of Fort Worth received $300,000 from the Environmental Protection Agency as part of a brownfields program to do a site inventory and develop a cleanup plan for the site. In their application to the EPA, the city identified the Worth Heights silos as a priority.
When demolition on the grain elevators will begin remains an open question. According to a note from city staff prepared ahead of the 2025 budget approval, the amount budgeted for hazardous demolition is not sufficient to complete the process. Staff are asking for additional funding this budget cycle to ensure the demolition is completed.
Bob Francis is business editor for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at bob.francis@fortworthreport.org. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
Camilo Diaz is a multimedia fellow at the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at camilo.diaz@fortworthreport.org. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.