Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Art Deco Preservation

(This has nothing to do with railroad preservation per se, but...)



While we were in Dallas we visited Fair Park.  It was constructed in 1936 for the Texas Centenary celebration, and its vast array of Art Deco architecture is very reminiscent of the Century of Progress, of which nothing survives, of course.   But Fair Park is all still there, and it is absolutely stunning.
















This is just a selection of the pictures I took.  I could not get enough of the Esplanade, it was like stepping back in time 80 years.







































In the middle of the park is the Cotton Bowl.  The last time I was here I was four years old.  All I remember clearly is that my father and I went out onto the field and pretended to run for a touchdown.   Soon after that, I managed to fall into the lagoon and get covered with mud.  He was really mad.






4 comments:

Charles Brown said...

A fun movie to watch is Gene Autry's "The Big Show" which was filmed in 1936 at Fair Park during the Texas Centennial. You can see a lot of those buildings in the background.

Anonymous said...

It would be incorrect to say nothing architectural survives from the Century of Progress. Four homes of the future were relocated to the Indiana Dunes near Beverly Shores.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Century_of_Progress_Architectural_District

Anonymous said...

Just saw your pictures of fair park and really enjoyed the memories brought back of visiting the fair during the 40's and 50's. thanks for sharing.

Wes Moreland

Randall Hicks said...

I'm aware of the houses near Beverly Shores. I have some pictures of them and could post them if anyone is interested. In any case, what I meant is that there's nothing remaining on site. Even Meigs Field is pretty much obliterated.