The Turtle Creek Pump Station was completed in 1909 and continued operating until 1930 when it was permanently shut down after the opening of the Bachman Treatment Plant. In 1953 the west wall and smokestack were removed, and the building was remodeled due to the widening and interchange of Harry Hines Boulevard with Oak Lawn. The Pump Station sat vacant for over twenty years until 1981 when the City of Dallas awarded the building to a group of Dallas arts supporters, including the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra and the Shakespeare Festival of Dallas.
Over the next seven years, Architexas worked with the community, Dallas arts organizations and the Board of Directors to develop an adaptation of the pump station that would serve rehearsal, recital, library, and historical museum and exhibition space. Maintaining flexibility while providing a wide variety of performance, exhibit, and practice space was key to the longevity of this adaptive use. By 1988, $3 million had been raised for the renovation of the facility, and the Sammons Center for the Arts opened to much acclaim as a national model for arts incubators. In 1989 Architexas was awarded the Historic Preservation League’s Keystone Award for their work on the Turtle Creek Pump Station adaptive use.
At a time when Dallas was tearing down one significant landmark after another, Architexas was working creatively to save the city’s history and find new purpose for buildings long forgotten.
photo by Ron St. Angelo
photo by Ron St. Angelo
photo by Jansen Maze
Since the completion of the Sammons Center, Architexas has completed over sixty adaptive use projects throughout the state of Texas, including the Joule Hotel and Expansion, the McKinney Performing Arts Center, and the Liberty Bank Building in Dallas’ Farmers Market District.
Most recently Architexas completed Factory Six03 in Dallas’ Historic West End and is currently working on the Mid Elm Lofts, Cedars Union, and the Purse Building Rehabilitation.
*Photos provided by Sammons Center for the Arts and Architexas
