Also known as: Landmark Tower (2004-2006)
This 30-story building was designed by Preston M. Geren & Associates in Fort Worth and built at two different times. The tower was the home of the Continental National Bank. Construction was halted when the economy downturned in the early 1950s. It was originally designed as a 28-story brick tower with a red granite base. When it opened in 1952, it was only four stories tall and had one floor of the brick facade above the granite base. Shortly after it opened, the economy picked back up and the owner desired to finish the remaining floors. However, two floors were added to the design, and a digital clock was added on top. When the tower was finally completed in 1956, it was the tallest building in Fort Worth and it was the first building to use an aluminum curtain wall. Its great height was crowned by a four-sided, 32-foot tall revolving digital clock, which was installed in late 1957. The building had to be redesigned to support the timepiece, which included cladding the building with an aluminum curtain wall instead of brick. This lightened the load from the original design, but because the extra two floors and the clock were added, the existing structure within the building also had to be strengthened. The clock had the letters “CNB” (Continental National Bank) in green neon on two sides and the time in white flood lights on the other two sides. The sign at one time was the world’s largest revolving clock (even though it quit revolving in 1978), the world’s largest digital clock (it quit keeping time in 1991), and the world’s largest four-sided sign as once listed in the Guinness Book of World Records. The distance from the finish floor at the entrance to the top of the clock was 420 feet. The building was hit by the March 28, 2000 tornado and suffered significant damage. The clock was removed from April 15 through 21 of 2000 by orders of the City of Fort Worth. The building structure itself was 380 feet tall. The building has gone through several owners through the years, and plans at one time were to convert the skyscraper to 140 luxury apartments, and 35 condominiums. This project fell into bankruptcy and the building was purchased in January 2004 by XTO Energy. The company explored all options to restore, reclad, and build around the building, but finally determined the best course of action was to tear it down. In October 2005, demolition permits were quietly acquired, and work began to demolish the building. The structure was imploded on March 18, 2006.