Oct 30, 2007 4:50 pm US/Central
Fort Worth Giving Old Neighborhood A Facelift
by Joel Thomas
FORT WORTH (CBS 11 News) ―
The city of Fort Worth is targeting one of its neighborhoods for a facelift, and those plans involve moving a major city department.
The area involved is the Rosedale Development, the once vibrant location around the intersection of Rosedale Street and Evans Avenue.
The area has a plaza with benches and landscaping, but no people are there. The few that are there either survived the area's steep decline or have come back hoping to rebuild.
The Rosedale area has faded and decayed just like an old picture.
"There was a lot of activity, businesses all over the place," said area businesswoman Loni Davis. She's taking over the business that her grandparents built. "There was a city bus that went up and down the street. It makes me feel sad, kind of bad, that my grandparents put all of their blood and sweat into this business and it's dying just because of the area."
After many years of planning, however, hope is building. The city of Fort Worth is just months away from opening a new library. Also, the city's Health Department is moving to the area. And, with city incentives, private developers are looking to build a new neighborhood on the bricks of history.
That's important to Cecil Williams, an area barber school owner. "You gotta know your history before you know where you're going," he said.
Williams sees the Rosedale area finally being reborn for a new generation. "Quite naturally it'll be different," he said. "It'll be what's needed in their new, young world."
Davis said, "I'm hoping that the development and the advancement over here will allow our business to grow and make my grandparents proud."
Groundbreaking for the city's Health Department and several new businesses is expected early next year.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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