DALLAS — During a Dallas City Council meeting on Wednesday, leaders continued discussions surrounding what to do with Dallas City Hall. It’s an almost 50-year-old famous building that has several structural issues. The debate comes down to repairing the building, which would cost about $1 billion, or demolishing it and moving to a different location.
There were two agenda items discussed and voted on, and they both focused on relocation. The council voted in favor of both measures. These were not definitive votes on the fate of the building.
Now, city leaders will consider four new locations for City Hall and investigate options to move 911 and emergency services.
The passage of Wednesday’s items does not mean that any of the relocation options for City Hall will be leased or purchased. Once the information has been gathered, it will be presented to the council, and from there, a location could then be selected.
“Today’s vote is not a vote to move out of city hall or to demolish this iconic building,” said Chad West, Dallas City Council member for District 1. “It’s a vote to give both City Council and the public the transparent apples to apples comparison we continue to ask for.”
The decision to either move or renovate would require a new resolution. With both agenda items having been passed, the conversation just continues to move forward.
In these meetings, many Dallas residents have shown up to support the building, feeling a strong enough connection to this issue that yard signs for saving City Hall can be seen throughout the city.
There are people on the other side who believe fixing the building is too costly since it would be taxpayers footing the bill.