No more Toal

Well, the name anyway.  Gideon Toal has changed names, again.  It's a brand new day at Bennett Benner Pettit.

WHY?

Read about one reason in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Fort Worth's Gideon Toal architecture and planning firm has changed its name to Bennett Benner Pettit to reflect the firm's current leadership team.

"Our new name, our new identity and even the new design of our website and our office space all speak to the fact that this is a new day for our firm," CEO Michael Bennett said.

The current leadership structure, in place since 2008, includes Bennett; Bruce Benner, president and chief operating officer; and David Pettit, director of economic development. The company has 35 employees.

Gideon Toal was founded in 1956 as Don W. Kirk, a consulting engineer. By 1986, the firm had been renamed Kirk Voich Gist. Randy Gideon joined the firm in 1989 and James Toal in 1993. It then became KVG Gideon Toal and was renamed Gideon Toal in 1997. In 1998, the two men began a 10-year process of selling the firm to its employees. That was completed in 2008 and the men left the company in June 2010.

"We are truly proud of this firm's history and we fully appreciate all the work that has gotten us to this point," Bennett said. Bennett joined the firm in 2004 as a principal and has been CEO since 2008. Benner has been with the firm since 1984 and was named principal, president and chief operating officer in 2001. Pettit joined the firm in 2003 from Downtown Fort Worth Inc.

Bennett said the firm conducted local and statewide studies and considered many options before deciding to change. The firm, he said, "didn't want to walk away" if there was strong name recognition.

What they found was that the firm was well-known within the architecture community, but not as much in real estate circles, Bennett said.

Using the names of the current executives "felt right," Bennett said.

In addition to its three namesake principals, Mark Dabney, associate principal, is responsible for architectural production and staffing. The firm's associates include Amanda Schulte, Gannon Gries and Stephen Pepper.

Some of the firm's recent projects include the Acme Brick corporate headquarters, The Residences at 1301 Throckmorton, the West 7th and West Bend mixed-use developments, the new Tarrant County Jail and Cantey Hanger Plaza.

Don't forget, anything that has to do with Trinity River Vision has Gideon Toal's name all over it.