Fort Worth has abandoned its plan to tear down the century-old grain silos looming over the Worth Heights neighborhood, after city officials determined the project would cost far more than they had budgeted. The 12-story Alice Street complex will remain standing for now, and the $850,000 set aside for its demolition is being funneled into other neighborhood upgrades instead.
The decision comes down to money. A full demolition of the roughly 90-silo structure was estimated to cost $1.4 million, leaving a $600,000 gap beyond the funds Fort Worth had already allocated, according to NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth. That $850,000 had come out of the Worth Heights Neighborhood Improvement Program in 2024, according to Texas News Today, and city officials have now redirected that money back into the same program rather than let it sit frozen while they searched for the rest.
A Century of Grain Storage Turned Decades of Trouble
The Alice Street complex dates back to March 1923, when Fort Worth Elevator & Warehouse began construction on what would become a 12-story, roughly 90-silo industrial facility reflecting the city’s rise as a major rail and milling hub, according to 6AM City. Operations at the site ceased around 2000, leaving behind a hulking concrete shell that has sat empty for roughly a quarter century.
In the years since, the property has become a persistent source of danger and frustration for the surrounding community. Fort Worth police responded to at least 367 emergency calls at the site between 2006 and 2024, while the city logged 59 formal citizen complaints over vagrancy, trespassing and illegal dumping, per KERA News. The station also reported that public safety hazards at the silos contributed to the death of a 17-year-old girl who fell down a grain chute in 2016, an injury to a police officer during a foot pursuit, and repeated fires that Fort Worth firefighters could only battle from outside the structure…