The lights are coming back on at the 52-story former First National Bank tower.
A downtown Dallas landmark that’s been in the dark for more than a decade will brighten up the skyline starting this week.
Developer Todd Interests plans a Wednesday relighting of the former First National Bank tower’s exterior illumination.
The 55-year-old Elm Street skyscraper is being redone in a $450 million project that’s downtown’s largest redevelopment deal. It’s been renamed The National.
Once the tallest tower west of the Mississippi, the dark gray glass tower has nine vertical lighted columns on each side that stretch up the outside of the high-rise.
For decades, the columns were one of the most recognized light shows on downtown’s skyline.
But the illumination was turned off after the building was closed in 2010.
As part of the restoration, the lights behind the panels have been replaced with modern fixtures.
Todd Interests is finishing up a conversion of the historic skyscraper into a combination of apartments, hotel rooms, retail and office space.
The first apartments will be ready in September, and a 219-room Thompson Hotel will open before the end of the year.
Dallas’ Merriman Anderson Architects designed the redevelopment. And Andres Construction is the general contractor.