Online Exclusive: Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Jazz Café: cool mural of jazz musicians on one side and a courtyard on the other side of this 1960s structure that looks like it used to be a house. Ye Old Bull and Bush: funky’s written all over this little pub that wouldn’t look out of place in old Londontown. Vending Nut Co.: The building itself isn’t all that special, but I love the sign out front that asks, “Got nuts?” The other side says, “Roasting nuts daily.” Economy Supply Plumbing Supplies: constructed in 1972, the building’s rock façade around the top and a pastel stucco exterior would make it fit right at home in, say, Santa Fe or Albuquerque. Fort Worth Billiards: it ain’t the greatest-looking building, but I love the colorful pool balls lined up along the rooftop. Blocker Industries: This butt-ugly building from the 1960s benefits from the cool paint job and the boat that’s perpetually parked out front. Dairy Queen: I’ve loved this chain restaurant and its red-and-white buildings ever since I ate my first soft-serve ice cream cone there in the 1960s. Montgomery Street Café: This 1940s-era building is nostalgic and smart if unremarkable, but the “café” sign out front is as cool as they come. Soul Fitness: super-funky building from the 1960s with an exterior that reminds me of one of those vintage chenille bedspreads. Jake’s White Trash & Pink Lemonade Coiffure: an ugly little convenience store transformed into my favorite building of all on this stretch of Montgomery. The stone exterior and metal palm trees are nice touches, and the old airplane mounted on a signpost make this structure unforgettable. Quickway: This old building looks like it was airlifted from a Colorado ski-resort and plopped down next to the museum district, and is now in danger of collapsing at any minute. But its vertical lines are cool, and I love the rusted, metal soda pop signs affixed to the side. (And it serves great food!) PHOTOS: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 A D V E R T I S E M E N T A D V E R T I S E M E N T Funkalicious Gateway to the Cultural District By Jeff Prince A local blogger is just one of many misinformed folks who think ‘Fort Worth Weekly’ hates its namesake city. Wrong-O. We work hard to uncover dirt, corruption, graft, and general mayhem because we love our city and don’t like people trying to screw it up. One thing in particular I adore is the city’s history of stepping to the beat of its own drummer (having been born here in 1959 and spent most of my life here, I can verify to the city’s longstanding funkiness). One of my favorite areas to mirror this ideal is the one-mile stretch of Montgomery Street between I-30 and Camp Bowie Boulevard: a high-profile entranceway to the Cultural District but far from the gentrified and sterile gateway that many people might prefer. Museum bluebloods surely cringe every time they drive past such an odd assortment of buildings, a mishmash of architecture that screams, “Welcome to Funkytown!” From I-30 heading north, here’s a sampling of that assemblage, eye candy for anyone with an appreciation for the absurd: Cultural District redevelopment and the possibility of building a rodeo arena at the intersection of Harley and Montgomery streets might mean the loss of some of these buildings in the near future, but we can enjoy them while they’re here. Email this Article...