Developers develop
Re: “City Hall stands in downtown’s way, developers say — Dallas’ core needs bold action now, including demolition of crumbling structure,” by Lucy Billingsley and Craig Hall, Oct. 30 Opinion.
When I started my commercial real estate career more than 40 years ago in an era of high vacancy rates, I wondered why they continued to build. A seasoned veteran sage of the industry told me “because they’re developers,” and developers develop. And there you go.
Billingsley and Hall are developers. Of course they want to tear down an iconic building designed by a renowned architect. It will cost millions to refurbish, but how many more millions will it cost to build a new city hall?
And then, the million dollar question — will the city allot funds for maintenance?
Opinion
The authors of this column insult our intelligence by saying how much new development (room for a casino?) will benefit southern Dallas and the path to Fair Park. Why are they not addressing the issues of downtown vacancies, Valley View and the imminent move from downtown by AT&T?
Oh! Silly me. I forgot. Of course, our City Hall stands in their way. They are developers, and developers develop.
Kay Martz McKinney, Dallas/Little Forest Hills
Demolition is what Dallas does
With all the deserved respect to Ms. Billingsley and Mr. Hall, their position on the Dallas City Hall demolition is what has eroded Dallas’ inventory of important architecture for the past 125 years.
The lesson learned here should focus on the economics of our civic priorities, maintenance and planning, which have been sorely ignored in this important, iconic building.
My hope is that the city of Dallas will not once again throw the baby out with the bathwater and further damage our cultural heritage.
Shannon S. Wynne, Dallas/The Cedars
Pei design never worked
Maybe it is something in the water. Every year there is the delusion that this is the Cowboys year and every news story about the troubled Dallas City Hall building must mention it was designed by renowned architect I.M. Pei.
From everything I have read, no one using the building on a daily basis has really liked the design. It is hard to navigate around the open atriums and elevators are inconveniently located. It is apparently an expensive nightmare to heat and cool and has developed serious structural and water leak issues.
Is it possible that city leaders are just afraid to admit that the I.M. Pei design didn’t work as a city hall building. Yes, it has a very unusual and iconic look, with its sloping front and bulging columns. However, the question should be — was it a good design for its intended purpose, or just a famous architect’s design statement?
Does the city simply want to preserve a monument to a renowned architect, or have a functioning, well-designed for its purpose city hall.
Neal Okerblom, Dallas
People own public asset
The proposal to demolish Dallas City Hall represents corporate capture — the process by which private interests influence government decisions to benefit themselves at public expense.
Our City Hall represents more than an architectural landmark of civic pride. It represents public ownership of a vital community asset. At a time when corporate consolidation threatens to turn Americans into perpetual renters in their own neighborhoods, Dallas should demonstrate that some things belong to the people who built this city, not to investors seeking returns.
Once sold, public assets are lost forever to private control. History shows governments under fiscal pressure make the worst privatization decisions, especially when converting taxpayer-built assets into private profits.
If Dallas surrenders public assets to the highest bidder, our city follows a path that extracts wealth from communities and renders citizens tenants in spaces that should remain ours.
Yes, City Hall needs repairs. But selling it signals that we accept permanent rule by those with the deepest pockets.
Some things must remain in the hands of the people. Dallas City Hall is one of them.
Kathryne M. Morris, Dallas
Will future run over us?
Re: “City Hall’s Bad, But How Bad? Staff was blamed for inflating repair costs, but Dallas gave workers only 2 months to assess years and years of neglect,” Monday editorial.
Has Dallas become a lost cause? For anyone who thinks the city is in terminal decline as a competitive economic entity, The News’ chosen way of rethinking downtown is one more sign of the times.
Even in their current state, Dallas City Hall and its “barren plaza” serve to remind us of what their builders hoped Dallas could become. Mayor J. Erik Jonsson worked to bring city people together to “shape and create the future, not be run over by it.”
Which of those things is really happening, if we leave our ambitious civic projects and public spaces to be demolished and replaced with privately owned sports venues (or one more “entertainment district”)?
The News rightly demands new ideas for downtown and better ways of attracting people and serving their needs. But any redevelopment plan that replaces City Hall must offer something new that elevates and enriches our shared civic realm, rather than impoverishing it further.
All who still believe in Dallas should insist on this. If our existing structures can still express our shared hopes and ideals, then it may be best to reimagine and readapt them, as challenging and ambitious as that may be.
Norwood Andrews, Northeast Dallas
Building is a movie star
One more bit of trivia for you about Dallas City Hall. Robocop was the second, not the first time the building was used as a movie set. In 1980, a PBS movie called The Lathe of Heaven, based on an Ursula K. LeGuin novel, was partially shot there and in multiple other locations around Fort Worth and Dallas.
It’s my understanding the building was still under construction at the time, so they had to shoot around the unfinished work and mostly at night. The building added a certain mystique to the story.
It would be a real shame to tear down that unique movie star of a building. Try to find a way to fix it. I think it’s worth it.
Richard LaChance, Fort Worth
Keep and maintain City Hall
Keep Dallas City Hall. Going forward, replace city property management staff with BOMA-certified professional property managers. Let’s please keep and really maintain our beloved City Hall.
Patricia Camargo Bowles, Dallas/Arts District
Meet, debate and decide
There are so many big changes going on in Dallas now that it’s hard for citizens to avoid wrapping their arms around their heads and saying, “Make it all go away.” The Mavericks-Stars thing will have a huge impact on the area, but we mere citizens are just debris in the wake of billionaire organizations’ battles.
One that is also huge, but one that citizens can — and should impact — is the City Hall issue. My personal belief, and one that is likely shared by others, is that politics and perhaps even aesthetics should be removed from the decision. It should strictly be one of dollars and cents (sense?) because that is what the tax paying citizenry cares about right now.
Yes, gather data for the decision, but then meet, debate and decide. Move forward with best economical decision that is going to impact your constituents without kicking this can further down the road. Preferably before City Hall topples over.
Dan Siculan, Royse City
Put City Hall in Fair Park
We all agree, Dallas needs a new City Hall. In my opinion, the current building is stark and does not project an image of a progressive, vibrant city. There are developers who could make that section of downtown into something that better utilizes the space.
As for City Hall, relocate it to a section of Fair Park. There is room if the relocation includes parking towers to accommodate the State Fair and other uses that should take place in the Cotton Bowl. This will help with the development of the south Dallas area as well. A win for the city, southern Dallas and the developers.
Chris Packard, University Park
True gem deserves respect
Re: “Hands off City Hall — Why putting the wrecking ball to I.M. Pei’s iconic building would be a financial boondoggle and an architectural travesty,” by Mark Lamster, Oct. 19 Arts & Life column.
I write in strong agreement with your architecture critic’s column and to express my deep concern that our city would even consider tearing down Dallas City Hall, a true gem for our city.
This building, designed by I.M. Pei, one of the most famous architects in the world, was created as a priceless piece of art for our city. The fact that such a landmark piece of civic architecture is now under threat is deeply troubling. To destroy it would be to erase a piece of our identity and hand over our public heritage to short-term real-estate interests. Demolition would signify that we do not value our rich history.
It would make far more sense to invest in repair. The column points out that preserving our building is both financially and environmentally more responsible.
Dallas City Hall matters. Pulling it down would not only be a loss of architecture, but a self-inflicted wound to the identity of our city. I urge our elected leaders and civic planners to recognize the value in what we already have, to treat this building with the respect it deserves, and to commit to its future rather than its destruction.
Roslyn Goldstein, Dallas/Preston Hollow