The group trying to save Dallas City Hall just won a national award.

As far as advocacy groups go, the Save Dallas City Hall Coalition is a relative newborn. It began less than two years ago, as the debate around the condition and fate of the iconic I.M. Pei-designed building began to heat up. 

Since that time, the group has created a website that makes its case for saving the 48-year-old building and provides ways for residents to advocate for just that. It also worked with a handful of lawyers to repeatedly warn the city of potential lawsuits, and to actually sue the city for neglecting the building. In June, the Council voted 9-5 for City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert to spend up to $2 million to negotiate potential City Hall relocation deals. That report was due back last month, but so far has not been on any agenda.

Yesterday, the non-profit Docomomo (its name comes from what it advocates for: DOcumentation and COnservation of buildings, sites, and neighborhoods from the MOdern MOvement) named the Save Dallas City Hall Coalition one of 15 recipients of its U.S. 2026 Modernism in America Awards. It’s the 13th year the organization has given out the awards, which recognizes groups and projects aimed at preserving and restoring modern architecture. The coalition earned the Advocacy Award for Excellence.

“It has been extraordinary to see such a broad coalition come together to advocate for Dallas City Hall,” Docomomo US executive director Liz Waytkus said in a statement. “From engaging the press and building a strong online presence to bringing together past presidents of AIA Texas, the Pei family, and former members of the firm, this effort has approached preservation from every angle. The combination of legal strategy, organizational collaboration, and positive public engagement demonstrates what a professional advocacy campaign looks like with a shared commitment to protect one of our nation’s most important civic spaces.”

In June, we spoke with Liane Pei about her father’s relationship with Dallas and her feelings about what could happen to City Hall. You can read that below, and revisit our City Hall coverage here.