People gather to listen to speakers during a press conference as the Save City Hall coalition kicks off a petition drive to put the fate of Dallas City Hall on the ballot Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026, at Dallas City Hall.
Shafkat Anowar/The Dallas Morning News
Dallas voters may get the final say in the fight over City Hall.
A coalition that includes civic leaders, elected officials, architects, preservationists and some of the city’s most active philanthropists said Thursday they will launch a petition drive next week to keep city operations in the I.M. Pei-designed building. The campaign also drew on its history, with family members of its famed architect and the mayor who championed its construction standing alongside supporters outside City Hall.
“This is no longer a grassroots effort,” said former Mayor Laura Miller, who headlined the announcement.
Article continues below this ad
Advocates said they will gather voters’ signatures for a proposed charter amendment requiring the city to keep its central operations in the building. The effort needs 20,000 signatures to reach the May 2027 ballot.
The petition would take a decision now being debated at City Hall out of elected officials’ hands. If voters approve it, the city would have to keep its central operations in the building, even as officials weigh the cost of repairing it against the cost of moving.
Supporters say City Hall is both a landmark worth preserving and a symbol of Dallas’ civic history that should continue to serve the city. They also say moving out may be costlier than expected because the city has not revealed demolition costs.
Opponents have said the city should weigh the cost of renovating the aging building against other options before deciding to stay. Moving city operations could free the land for redevelopment and help revitalize that part of downtown.
That debate over preserving the building or opening the site to redevelopment could become the central question for voters if the petition makes the ballot.
Article continues below this ad
Civic and politically active donors, including Mary McDermott Cook, Trammell Crow Jr, Robert and Maureen Decherd, have given money to the Save City Hall Coalition to fund the petition drive. Robert Decherd is DallasNews Corporation’s former board chairman, president and CEO.
Laura Miller speaks during a press conference as the Save City Hall coalition kicks off a petition drive to put the fate of Dallas City Hall on the ballot Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026, at Dallas City Hall.
Shafkat Anowar/The Dallas Morning News
What began a year ago as a kitchen-table discussion between residents and downtown council member Paul Ridley became a show of power Thursday as more than 70 people gathered outside the 50-year-old building to launch the campaign.
Miller was flanked by southern Dallas pastor Gerald Britt, two former council members, three current council members — including Paula Blackmon and Adam Bazaldua who have sued the city over the building — and lawyer Ben Abbott, a possible mayoral candidate next year. Abbott is the lead funder of the drive, according to Miller.
Next to them was I.M. Pei’s daughter Liane Pei and the granddaughters of former mayor Erik Jonsson, who led the building’s construction as Dallas sought to remake its image after President John F. Kennedy’s assassination.
Article continues below this ad
Liane Pei, daughter of Dallas City Hall architect I.M. Pei, to the podium during a press conference as the Save City Hall coalition kicks off a petition drive to put the fate of Dallas City Hall on the ballot Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026, at Dallas City Hall.
Shafkat Anowar/The Dallas Morning News
They spoke of the building as something meant to be passed from one generation to the next.
Deciding its fate
City Hall has been at the center of a divisive debate for nearly a year.
Some city leaders, including Mayor Eric Johnson and former mayors Mike Rawlings and Ron Kirk, support leaving the building to redevelop the land. Others, including several city council members, want to stay, citing the building’s historic significance.
Article continues below this ad
“Sí se puede. It can be done,” Dallas County Commissioner Elba Garcia told the crowd, who cheered.
State Rep. John Bryant, former Dallas City Council members Veletta Forsythe Lill and Erik Wilson, and Steve Atkinson, the former president of the Dallas Gay and Lesbian Alliance, joined Garcia in signing a notice to the city that they would begin a petition drive.
Related: Family that helped build Dallas City Hall watches its uncertain future
“It is astonishing… that such a valuable, not just landmark, but symbol of our civic effort, would be imperiled by a group of insiders who have another plan for this site, which we don’t know the identity of or the nature of,” Bryant said.
Ridley appealed to the public to weigh in “rather than letting a few individuals who reside in this building decide for you.”
Article continues below this ad
Council members and city leaders who support leaving the building say it’s too expensive to fix.
Crowd holds a sign during a press conference as the Save City Hall coalition kicks off a petition drive to put the fate of Dallas City Hall on the ballot Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026, at Dallas City Hall.
Shafkat Anowar/The Dallas Morning News
Related: Boilers, repair costs and the escalating fight over the future of Dallas City Hall
A council majority has sought cost estimates for modernizing City Hall and for moving city operations elsewhere. At one point, the city considered whether the site could make way for a Dallas Mavericks arena.
Article continues below this ad
The Mavericks have since decided to build at the former Valley View Center site, but city leaders are still considering downtown towers for city operations.