Texas Health Resources for their thoughtful stewardship of the Old Renfro Drug Store building (1920).
This eye-catching, curved, one story commercial building at 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue is constructed of brick and hallow tile, with cast stone. The building’s curving facade takes advantage of the prominent corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and Henderson Street. The exemplary cast-stone frieze and parapet incorporate a Gothic Revival triforium and an Art Deco zigzag band. The original metal canopy still wraps around the building over the storefronts. Some suspect it may have been designed by Fort Worth’s late, nationally renowned architect and engineer, Wyatt C. Hedrick.
In 2012 and 2013 leases were expiring in this beloved building that some see as a “wedding cake.” With no knowledge of the building’s future, HFW placed the Old Renfro Drug Store on its endangered list and sent a letter to its owner that included an example of a project in New York City where a u-shaped historic building fronted and softened a new, contemporary building behind it. About two years ago, maintenance work on the facade was underway, and before long the building’s new use as a police-security station unfolded. Since then, a contemporary building was constructed for Texas Oncology Fort Worth Cancer Center that juxtaposes the old and the new.
Photography by Bruce E. Maxwell.
