Phillip Poole

1946 - 2021

Phillip Poole
September 7, 1946 - September 25, 2021
Fort Worth, Texas - G. Phillip Poole, a renowned architect and urban planner who dedicated his work to rebuilding Fort Worth's urban core, passed away peacefully surrounded by his family on Sept. 25, 2021.
He was born Sept. 7, 1946 to Evelyn and Garland Poole in Alexandria, VA. Phillip graduated from Virginia Polytechnic Institute (now Virginia Tech) in 1969 with a Master of Architecture and was a proud member of the Corp of Cadets.
Upon graduation, he accepted his commission with the Army Corp of Engineers in Fort Worth where he worked on military base construction throughout the five-state Southwest region.
After completing his service, he worked for Komatsu Architects until starting his own graphic design studio – Phillip Poole Associates. He received numerous local and state awards, as well as a national Addy Award, the highest advertising industry honor, for a cleverly written billboard that mocked how long the lights were at the six-point intersection at University Drive and Camp Bowie Boulevard.
He then turned back to his true passion, architecture and development, and formed TownSite Company with his wife and partner, Mary Nell Poole. The two worked on such notable projects as Museum Place, Midtown and Left Bank.
Phillip was passionate about New Urbanism and fostered sustainable, walkable designs that attracted people back to inner city neighborhoods. Phillip worked in almost every corner of his beloved adopted city often saying, "It's our job to leave this place better than we found it."
His fingerprints are all over the city, especially in the Near Southside and the Cultural District. He was honored by Near Southside Inc. with the Most Valuable Partner Award in 2003. In 2020, the Fort Worth Cultural District Alliance renamed its prestigious Cultural District Award of Excellence to the Phillip Poole Award. He and Mary Nell were the first recipients.
Phillip served on countless city committees tasked with shaping the future of development in Fort Worth and was instrumental in the creation of development corridors, urban villages and mixed-use zoning to spur growth and development.
Illustrating his fun and creative side, following the 2000 tornado, Phillip was responsible for talking city officials into keeping the four bent metal support beams of a billboard along University Drive at Sixth Street as public art. In wanting to honor Fort Worth's rich aviation history, Phillip was behind the First Flight Park installation of a life-size sculpture of the actual first plane to take flight in the city.
Phillip was a member of the inaugural Forty Under Forty class, past president of the Cultural District Alliance, a founding member of the Real Estate Council of Fort Worth and was listed as one of the 400 Most Influential People in Fort Worth.
We will celebrate Phillip's life at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 16 at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden Center. In lieu of flowers, please consider donations in Phillip's honor to UT Southwestern Moncrief Cancer Institute or the U.S. National Park Service.
His family was a great source of pride and joy. In addition to his wife, Mary Nell, Phillip is survived by his children, Lisa Lambert (Robert), B. Phillip Poole (Jessica), Aaron Poole and Sadie Poole; grandchildren Blake Poole, and Harris, Molly and Hudson Lambert, sister Jan Goodell (Bob) and numerous other loving family and friends.