A story about Parish Episcopal
I am dumbfounded by the turmoil over Dallas City Hall. That deferred maintenance has caused the problem does not mean that the building needs to be torn down.
Parish Episcopal School, at Midway Road north of LBJ Freeway, was the former headquarters of ExxonMobil. The building was designed by I.M. Pei’s firm. In 2001, the school board, of which I was a member, voted to purchase the property and transform it into a school. This was in the dark days post-9/11.
The school now serves grades third to 12th. The building was not torn down. It was added on to, adapted and transformed — with a chapel, gymnasium, performing arts center and much more.
There is a magical story there. Because of the vision and the generosity of so many, there is an outstanding, award-winning faith-based school for our children.
Opinion
Susan S. Fisk, Dallas
Concerned about ongoing neglect
Re: “$1B price tag — Full repairs and updates could take 20 years to complete,” Feb. 22 news story.
As a resident of Dallas for over 50 years, I am deeply concerned about the ongoing neglect of our city’s essential infrastructure and historic landmarks. Sites like Fair Park and Dallas City Hall — icons that define our community’s heritage and daily operations — have suffered from years of deferred maintenance, leading to significant deterioration and escalating repair costs.
Recent assessments highlight the severity of the problem at City Hall: Urgent fixes alone are estimated at around $329 million, addressing critical issues such as a failing roof, outdated electrical and plumbing systems, water intrusion and structural problems in the parking garage.
Full modernization over the next 20 years could exceed $1 billion (potentially up to somewhere between $1.1 billion and 1.4 billion including financing and operations). Fair Park faces similar challenges, with crumbling infrastructure and millions in backlogged maintenance needs.
For too long, city leadership has prioritized international ties, ambitious legacy projects and outward-facing initiatives over the fundamental health and economic vitality of Dallas itself.
Michael Marz, Dallas/Preston Hollow
Something doesn’t smell right
The report is in, and it will cost possibly $1 billion to repair and remodel City Hall. Close to one third of that would be just to pay interest on the money borrowed.
Let’s consider the other options: build a new city hall. Will that not cost just as much? Plus, property will have to be bought and possibly cleared of existing structures. Or just buy an existing office building.
Of course, that will need a certain amount of remodeling and repairs. The electrical and mechanical systems there will have to be replaced sometime in the future.
The first thing that should be done is call an exterminator because I sure can smell a rat.
Richard Williams, Dallas/Oak Cliff
It’s City Council’s albatross
Oh, what to do with City Hall? Let’s do it the Big D way: D as in deferred maintenance. We’re paying over $1 billion to replace the convention center, buildings at Fair Park are uninhabitable, fire houses are falling apart, libraries are leaking, parks are going neglected, water mains are breaking, the streets are horrific, and all because of deferred maintenance.
Council members have been loudly blowing their trumpets for saving their constituents money, even if it averages out to be $100 per household. They could have held the budget even and used the money for maintenance.
I’m for doing something with City Hall right after all the city’s other infrastructure is properly taken care of. Let the politicians live in their deferred maintenance albatross.
Kevin Buchanan, East Dallas
A too-high price tag
The Economic Development Corp., a city-affiliated nonprofit, released its report estimating that the repairs and work necessary to modernize and occupy Dallas City Hall could range from $1.1 billion to $1.4 billion.
Wow! At that price, you could demolish City Hall, hire the world’s greatest architect to build the world’s greatest masterpiece. And still have hundreds of millions of dollars left over!
I think the answer is clear. No go!
Guy Mercurio, Dallas
Move to AT&T complex
This is to Dallas City Council members, Dallas citizens, et al. How about moving city offices to the AT&T complex? It could be ready for occupancy in a couple of years, with plenty of amenities, in the heart of downtown, more contemporary and with a long life expectancy. What is not to like?
Karl Reigle, Fort Worth
Need careful cost evaluation
Re: “Preservation push continues — Officials discuss landmark status for the building ahead of new report,” Feb. 20 Metro & Business story.
I find this news of an effort to certify our City Hall as a historic site before the restoration costs are carefully studied to be threatening. Dallas has suffered from resident flight to suburbs. I see a need for a careful cost evaluation to compare restoring the building versus permanently moving city offices elsewhere in the central business area and selling the 50-year-old building to aggressive real estate developers.
I am a very senior citizen who looks at these costs as a burden to my grandchildren, if they choose to stay in Dallas. Our City Council needs a unanimous vote to announce no action on the City Hall until the cost analysis of restoration versus a new home in old office buildings is completed.
Included in the debate should be the opinions of council persons and city staff on the functional efficiency of I.M. Pei’s building design on their work.
Marvin Noble, North Dallas
Is it worth it?
I‘m so confused. The debate about preservation and demolishing seems to go on and on. However, this push from the Landmark Commission makes me wonder, if ordered for “preservation,” will the Landmark Commission put up the millions of dollars every year from its budget to do the preservation?
Or, will this huge monument turn into what so many other “landmark” places become — trashed, vermin infested, drug-user dens with break-ins by unfortunate homeless persons seeking shelter?
Preserving history is great, but let’s make sure that the preservation can be maintained and paid for — and that it is worth it.
Dan Siculan, Royse City
An indisputable backdrop
Long gone are the days of North Texas’ innovation and growth solely dominated by downtown Dallas. Fort Worth is championing unprecedented population growth, and Plano is going all in with their multi-million dollar incentives to warmly welcome AT&T from Dallas.
The future for the Stars and the Mavericks as it pertains to downtown Dallas raises unsavory question marks. Construction of Dallas Wings’ new arena downtown has been delayed, and the looming WNBA lockout adds to the haziness of its future.
Dallas City Hall, the motor of the city and, for me personally, the indisputable backdrop for the start and finish of the Dallas Marathon, could serve as a beacon of promise with pledges to preserve it while keeping competitive in the growth race neighboring cities are running.
Should Dallas City Hall be abandoned, in these times of continuous price increases, would private organizations that are hungry to take over this space contribute to the culture at the level that Dallas residents expect, without gouging this community even further?
Jacobe Beltran, Dallas
A car named ‘Dallas’
Imagine buying an expensive car called the “Dallas.” You never performed any upkeep on the car, the tires went flat and the engine finally seized. New car salespeople advised you to buy a new “Dallas” for twice as much as the one you have now. However, you can have everything repaired for a quarter as much as you paid for the original car.
This is the problem of the city of Dallas. They have no money for repairs and no money to maintain, but they have billions of taxpayer taxes to buy a new one. So, Dallas taxpayers, let’s fix the old one and set up a schedule to repair Fair Park.
Donald Wright, Lake Dallas
A sofa story
While the amount of money cannot even remotely be compared, the debate over what to do about Dallas City Hall reminds me of my decision 20 years ago to have my sofa reupholstered. It is the sofa I grew up on, the sofa my siblings and I lay on when we were sick, the sofa we piled on for family pictures.
The sofa went from my parents’ living room to a brother’s living room. Then, it went to my sister’s living room. The sofa finally came to rest in my living room.
Over its 65-year life, the sofa has been slip covered and reupholstered many times. When it was my turn to have it reupholstered, a number of friends advised that I could buy a new sofa for far less money than I would pay to have mine redone.
I didn’t care. The old girl has too much history and has seen my family through too much joy and too much heartache to be abandoned. I feel the same way about City Hall.
Janie R. Bush, Dallas
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