Preston Geren Sr.
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Preston Murdoch Geren Sr. (November 2, 1891 – September 21, 1969) was an American architect and engineer. Part of a prominent architectural family in Texas, he designed or served as associate architect for many of
Fort Worth Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...
's most notable buildings constructed during his working life.


Early life, military service and family

Geren was born in
Sherman, Texas Sherman is a city in and the county seat of Grayson County, Texas, United States. The city's population in 2020 was 43,645. It is one of the two principal cities in the Sherman–Denison metropolitan area, Sherman–Denison metropolitan statist ...
, in 1891. He received a degree in architectural engineering from the
A&M College of Texas Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...
in 1912 and spent two years as supervising architect for the growing Texas A&M campus. From 1914 to 1916, he was a partner in the
Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...
firm of Giesecke and Geren, working with Texas A&M professor Frederick Giesecke. During
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, Geren was commissioned as a first lieutenant in the
United States Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wo ...
and fought in the battles of
Saint-Mihiel Saint-Mihiel () is a commune in the Meuse department in the Grand Est region in Northeastern France. Geography Saint-Mihiel lies on the banks of the river Meuse. History A Benedictine abbey was established here in 708 or 709 by Count Wulfoalde ...
and the Argonne, where he was wounded. For his battlefield service, Geren received the
Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the president to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...
and the
Croix de Guerre The (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awarded during World ...
. After the war, Geren served as chief engineer at an architectural firm in Austin. In 1921, Geren married Giesecke's daughter Linda; they had three children.


Professional career

Between 1921 and 1923, Geren taught architecture and chaired the architecture department at Oklahoma A&M. He moved to Fort Worth in 1923 and joined the prominent firm of Sanguinet, Staats and Hedrick as chief engineer until 1934, when he founded his own practice, Preston M. Geren Architects and Engineers. At Sanguinet, Staats and Hedrick, Geren's projects included the Fort Worth Club, the Electric Building, the Texas and Pacific Passenger Terminal. In 1949, Geren's son Preston Jr. joined the practice. At Geren and Associates, Geren was responsible for the design, construction, and remodeling of hundreds of civic, commercial, religious, educational buildings in Texas. Geren was a member of the Texas Society of Architects as well as the
American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C. AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach progr ...
, Fort Worth. He received the Distinguished Award of the city of Fort Worth twice. He received a certificate of merit from the Texas Construction Council in 1957. In 1956, he was named engineer of the year by the Texas Society of Professional Engineers. In 1959, he was elected as a fellow to the
American Society of Civil Engineers The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) is a tax-exempt professional body founded in 1852 to represent members of the civil engineering profession worldwide. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, it is the oldest national engineering soci ...
. Geren also chaired the Fort Worth Zoning Board from 1940 to 1946. Geren's work included various building projects at the
Texas Wesleyan University Texas Wesleyan University is a private Methodist university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was founded in 1890 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The main campus is located in the Polytechnic Heights neighborhood of Fort Worth. Its mascot is ...
,
University of Texas at Arlington The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA or UT Arlington) is a public research university in Arlington, Texas, United States. It is the second oldest university in the University of Texas System and was founded in 1895. It was in the Texas A& ...
and at
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary The Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary is a Baptist theological institute in Fort Worth, Texas. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. It was established in 1908 and in 2005 was one of the largest seminaries in the wor ...
,
Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...
,
University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public university, public research university located in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its main campus is in Denton, Texas, Denton, with a satellite campus in Frisco, Texas, Frisco. It serves as the ...
, the
University of Dallas The University of Dallas is a Private university, private Catholic church, Catholic university in Irving, Texas, United States. Established in 1956, it is Higher education accreditation in the United States, accredited by the Southern Associat ...
,
Texas Woman's University Texas Woman's University (TWU) is a Public research university, public coeducational research university in Denton, Texas, with two health science center-focused campuses in Dallas and Houston. While TWU has been fully co-educational since 1994, ...
and
Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private university, private research university in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison Clark, Addison and Randolph Clark as the AddRan Male & Female College. It i ...
. Geren's church projects included University Christian Church, Travis Avenue Baptist Church, Matthews Memorial Methodist Church, Ridglea United Methodist Church, and Ridglea Presbyterian Church, all in and around Fort Worth. Late in life, his firm was the local associate architect working with
Louis Kahn Louis Isadore Kahn (born Itze-Leib Schmuilowsky; – March 17, 1974) was an Estonian-born American architect based in Philadelphia. After working in various capacities for several firms in Philadelphia, he founded his own atelier in 1935. Whil ...
on the
Kimbell Art Museum The Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, hosts an art collection as well as traveling art exhibitions, educational programs and an extensive research library. Its initial artwork came from the private collection of Kay and Velma Kimbell, w ...
. (This was a common practice in Fort Worth with out-of-town architects, and Kahn had a reputation for significant time and cost overruns. The Geren firm was known locally for bringing in projects on time and within budget.) Geren died in 1969 and his son completed the Kimbell Museum as associate architect.


Significant works

Major works by Geren in Fort Worth included: *
Arlington Heights High School Arlington Heights High School (AHHS, Heights) is a secondary school located in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. The school serves grades 9 through 12, and is a part of the Fort Worth Independent School District. Its mascot is the Yellow Jacket ...
(1936) *
Farrington Field Farrington Field is an 18,500-capacity multi-use stadium located in Fort Worth, Texas. Designed by Preston Geren Sr., Preston M. Geren, the stadium was financed with federal funds from the WPA and a local contribution from the school district. ...
(1939) *Parish house of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church (1949) *
Greater Southwest International Airport Greater Southwest International Airport , originally Amon Carter Field (ACF), was a commercial airport serving Fort Worth, Texas, from 1953 until 1974. Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) opened in 1974 a few miles north to replace Gr ...
Terminal (1953, with Joseph R. Pelich) * Colonial Country Club (1955, with John Floore) * Landmark Tower (1957) * Fort Worth Town Center (1962) *
Fort Worth Convention Center The Fort Worth Convention Center (formerly known as the Tarrant County Convention Center) is a convention center and indoor arena located in downtown Fort Worth, Texas. The complex opened on September 30, 1968, and was expanded in 1983, 2002 and ...
(1968) Notable Geren projects in other Texas locales included: * Little Chapel in the Woods (Denton, 1939, with O'Neil Ford and Arch B. Swank Jr.) * Blackstone Building (Tyler, 1939) * New London High School (New London, 1938) * Welch Hall (Austin, 1959) * Midland High School (Midland, 1961) *
Arlington Stadium Arlington Stadium was a baseball stadium located in Arlington, Texas, United States, located between Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. It served as the home of the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1972 until 1993, after which the ...
(Arlington, 1965)


Gallery of projects


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Geren, Preston Murdoch Sr. 1891 births 1969 deaths 20th-century American architects Artists from Fort Worth, Texas Texas A&M University alumni United States Army personnel of World War I American recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) Episcopalians from Texas Architects from Texas American civil engineers United States Army Corps of Engineers personnel