The new portal lays out how residents, developers and designers can submit concepts to remake City Hall and surrounding land, as officials weigh whether to repair the aging building or rethink the site entirely.
Submissions are open through 2 p.m. May 3, with the city inviting residents, architects, planners, developers and community groups to take part.
The focus spans the existing City Hall building, nearby government property and land that could be unlocked through the planned overhaul of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center Dallas.
City officials say the process is meant to gather ideas early, emphasizing that no final decisions have been made.
What the city wants: Officials are looking for proposals that begin to show how they could work in practice, including:
Submissions can include narratives, renderings and site plans, but are expected to remain conceptual at this stage.
Big picture: The initiative, pushed by City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert, marks the city’s most structured step yet in soliciting outside thinking on the future of City Hall, turning a long-running internal debate into a more public-facing process.
The building, designed by famed architect I.M. Pei and completed in 1978, sits at the center of a broader question: preserve a civic landmark or unlock a high-value redevelopment site downtown.
By formalizing the call, officials are seeking “a broad and representative range of ideas” to help shape what comes next.
The fine print: There are limits to what this process is and isn’t.
What’s next: City officials will review submissions after the May deadline and use them to inform City Council discussions.
Tolbert said Friday she plans to update the council in late May on progress, early findings and recommended next steps.
The outcome could range from renovating City Hall to relocating city functions and redeveloping the site, with the public’s ideas now part of that equation.