In downtown Grapevine, it is hard to tell what is old and what is new. Historic preservation consultation by Dallas-based ArchiTexas resulted in the rehabilitation of existing buildings and construction of compatible new buildings, which bracket the district at each end. The Grapevine City Hall (1997, ArchiTexas) at 200 S. Main is a red brick building with an arched arcade, a four-column Ionic portico, and a domed tower reminiscent of nineteenth-century county courthouses. Jack Bryant’s Nightwatchman statue (1997) crowns the building. The two-story brick Grapevine Convention and Visitor Bureau (2011, ArchiTexas; 636 S. Main) features compound Romanesque arches, corbeled cornices, and a six-stage tower with bracketed eaves and a pyramidal roof at the corner that evokes historic train stations. The four adjacent facades facing S. Main are also re-creations and mask the large new bureau and museum behind. At 201 S. Main is a replica (1991, ArchiTexas) of the 1891 Wallis Hotel that was demolished in 1930. Adjacent, in Liberty Park, the Torian Log Cabin (c. 1845) was moved here from north of town in 1976.
Some authentic buildings remain, although they are not nearly as winsome as the 1990s buildings. The Palace Theater (1940; 1999 rehabilitated, ArchiTexas) at 300 S. Main is a white Art Deco-influenced cube with a red tile first story, angled marquee, and diminutive sign.