Blue Flame Building

The Blue Flame Building, also known as the El Paso Natural Gas Company Building, is an 18-story skyscraper in El Paso, Texas. Completed in 1954, it was the tallest building in the city at the time. The 230-foot structure has a steel-frame construction and a granite facade. It was designed by the architecture firm Carroll and Daeuble, based on an original concept by Kenneth Franzheim, and built by the Robert E. McKee Construction Company. When it opened, it was celebrated as a showcase of modern industrial construction, since flexible space-planning systems allowed for adaptable use. From the top floor, visitors and employees once enjoyed sweeping views of the neighboring city of Ciudad Juárez and the surrounding region.

The building's most distinctive feature is the 21-foot-tall, flame-shaped weather beacon made of Plexiglas on the roof. Built by the Federal Sign and Signal Company, it was designed to communicate the weather forecast visually. The color of the flame told the public what to expect – blue for stable conditions, red for warmer days, gold for cooler weather – while flickering signaled wind or precipitation. For forty years, the flame's glow was controlled by a single operator, who checked the current forecast with the National Weather Service every day. The building originally housed more than 1,000 employees of the gas company, and it also contained a coffee shop, an auditorium, and a small infirmary.

After the gas company moved out during the 1980s, the building changed hands several times. In 1996, the El Paso Independent School District accepted the building as a gift, before it was sold to a local businessman in 2004. Since 2018, the Blue Flame Building has been listed as a historic landmark on the National Register of Historic Places. This designation allowed the Housing Authority of the City of El Paso to finance extensive renovations totaling $52 million. The renovation, completed in 2021, has transformed the building into a modern complex that now houses retail shops, office space, and apartments for low-income households.