Design
The Lonely Death of a South Texas Skyscraper
The First Pasadena State Bank, a 12-story modernist tower inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright, has dominated this small town near Houston since 1962.
For years, the abandoned tower in Pasadena, Texas, has beckoned adventurers. Drone pilots and urban explorers have surveyed the derelict building inside and out. What was once a pledge to the future of this industrial Houston suburb is now a relic from the past.
No more. Early on Sunday morning, the city of Pasadena will demolish the First Pasadena State Bank building, its one and only skyscraper. The 12-story tower is one of only a few buildings taller than a house anywhere in the city, which boasts a population of about 153,000 residents. When the bank tower comes down, those residents will lose the city’s most prominent landmark, a time-worn symbol of civic pride that some say has lost its luster.