Landmark Commission

In Junius Heights, Burton Knight is Still Fighting to Keep His Water-Friendly Yard

Burton Knight didn't set out trying to pick a fight with the city of Dallas. He just wanted a xeriscaped lawn, so he pulled up the green turf in front of his Abrams Road home and put in drought-tolerant cactus, mesquite, yucca, agave and dotted the landscape with large, roughly hewed boulders. Knigh ... More >>

Here's the Five-Story Apartment Complex Planned For the West End

Fairfield Residential is being very quiet about its plans to build apartments at 406 Houston Street in the West End. Vice president Scott Jackson said he will be happy to talk about the project just as soon as it clears the Landmark Commission, which could happen in November. Until then, we'll have ... More >>

Here's What the Cotton Bowl Will Look Like When It's Encased In Steel

We've known for a while now that the Cotton Bowl is getting an $82 million facelift. We've also known for a while that New York-based artist James Carpenter will be the one to bring that tired art deco facade into the 21st century. What we haven't known is what exactly that's going to look like. Unt ... More >>

Developer Intends to Fill Old Dallas High School, Land With 510 Residential Units

​Now that Sylvan Thirty's out of the way ...We learned at the end of last week that Wynne/Jackson intends to turn the 105-year-old Dallas High School on Pearl and Bryan into an apartment complex -- that's on Landmark Commission's agenda this afternoon, as the developer's seeking around $923,000 in ... More >>

Developers Intend to Turn Old Dallas High School Into a Residential Development

​As we noted earlier in the week, the council's Economic Development Committee will be briefed Monday concerning plans for the old Dallas High School downtown. So too, turns out, will the Landmark Commission: The freshly posted agenda for Monday's 1 p.m. meeting reveals that developer Wynne/Jackso ... More >>

Fret Not, as Plans to Renovate Old Dallas High School Downtown Remain on Track

​Sunday's supposed to be my last day 'round here, but I just may stick around till Monday. The reason: The just-posted agenda for Monday's meeting of the council's Economic Development Committee promises that Karl Zavitkovsky, head of the city's Office of Economic Development, will walk council th ... More >>

In Effort to Remind Folks Rodeo Bar and Grill's Still There, Adolphus Needs a Nice New Sign

Commerce and Akard as it appeared in the 1920s, left, and in the 1940s and '50s​Speaking of big, bright signs ...Today the Landmark Commission will take a long, hard look at a proposal from the Adolphus Hotel, which is concerned that the Rodeo Bar & Grill is languishing at the corner of Commer ... More >>

Your First Look at Those Proposed Interpretive Signs of the Times Meant for Fair Park

​Early last month, Leslie dropped by the Landmark Commission's Fair Park Task Force meeting during which Friends of Fair Park President Craig Holcomb introduced us to the cell-phone tour signs that'll be planted around Fair Park -- 60 of 'em, looks like. That's from the Landmark Commission's agend ... More >>

Landmark OK's Plans for 508 Park Ave., So What Now? A Recording Studio, For Starters.

What First Presby expects 508 Park Avenue to look like within, say, two years​The marble-and-concrete building at 508 Park Avenue, once the Warner Bros. Film Exchange and Brunswick Records's regional office, will get a much needed face lift after all, now that the Landmark Commission unanimously a ... More >>

And Whatever Became of First Presby's Plans to Buy and Restore 508 Park Avenue, Anyway?

The latest look at plans to redo the block that includes 508 Park Avenue, complete with amphitheater​It's been, what, four whole months since last we visited 508 Park Avenue and the surrounding properties, which remain in limbo at this late date. (Though better that than a heap of bricks.) First P ... More >>

The Results of Landmark Commission's Courtesy Review of 508 Park Avenue Are In

Click to embiggen Good Fulton & Farrell's proposal to give 508 Park and 1900 Young their respective makeovers.​While everyone's looking back at 2010, let's glance ahead at the first meeting of the Landmark Commission in the new year, which takes place Tuesday. There you'll find the results of ... More >>

Landmark Commission Finally Decides That Owners of 807 Elm Street Can Raze the Building

Justin Terveen​Speaking of demolitions ...Back in September we wondered whether 807 Elm Street's days were numbered. Park Cities Bank, which owns the building, had been trying to sell it for years but could find no takers. Said attorney Steve Metzger, repping PCB Properties, that was for one very ... More >>

At Today's Economic Development Committee Meeting, Where Downtown Comes Alive!

The Grand Ricchi, some day​Afternoon, Unfair Friends! Once again I find myself at City Hall, moving and shaking as I do among the political hoi polloi, bringing you the livest, bloggingest account of today's Economic Development Committee, wherein we'll be hearing about the Downtown Connection TIF ... More >>

How Safe is 807 Elm Street? One Structural Engineer Says It's "Distressed" Beyond Rescue.

Inside 807 Elm Street from documents submitted to the Landmark Commission​Aside from 807 Elm Street, there were a handful of other items of note on the Landmark Commission's agenda Monday -- like this proposed plaque for the Cotton Bowl, or a more detailed look at Jack Matthews's plans for a bouti ... More >>

Attorney Repping the Owner of 807 Elm Street to Make Case Monday For Razing the Building

Justin Terveen​Haven't heard in a few weeks from our Friend looking to rehab 807 Elm Street, but I do know this much: The owners of the circa-1925 building really want to get that thing gone, the sooner the better. On Monday, matter of fact, it comes up before the Landmark Commission, at which poi ... More >>

A Sneak Peek at the Continental Redo

Flickr photo: JVanT​From time to time, downtown-dwelling Friends of Unfair Park will ask: What's up with the Continental Building? Not much, of late: Forest City, also behind the Merc overhaul, had been hoping to begin work in '09, but last May Jim Truitt, Forest City's vice president of residenti ... More >>

Don't Raze Me, Bro Redux: Council Delays Vote on Teardown Ordinance For One Month

​First person I saw at City Hall yesterday was Katherine Seale, exec director of Preservation Dallas, who'd come to council in an attempt to stall a vote on the historic demolition ordinance we've been discussing since, oh, August '08 and the one that, as currently written, would allow the city to ... More >>

Knocking Down the Historic Demolition Ordinance That's Before the Council Today

​Five years ago a fierce battle was fought to stop the demolition of a house on my block in Dallas's first and oldest historic district (The Swiss Avenue Historic District). Blogista (and friend) Sharon Boyd called those of us who wanted to save the house "Preservation Nazis," which I guess is be ... More >>

Public Safety Committee Shuns Preservationists, Approves New Historic Demolition Ordinance

Sam MertenYup, Dwaine. This briefing was way over the collective heads of your committee.​Baffled and outraged preservationists quietly vacated Monday afternoon's Public Safety Committee meeting after the city council committee voted unanimously to adopt a new historic building demolition ordi ... More >>

The City's Still Debating How to Tear Down Safety Threats in Historic Districts

In August 2008, this was among the houses depicted in the initial council committee briefing regarding the need for a new teardown ordinance.​If it feels like City Hall's been debating the issue of how to tear down blighted properties within historic districts since forever, well, it's only been . ... More >>

A Snapshot Look at Dallas's Latest Crime Stats Before DPD Chief Kunkle Retires

​Pretty sure one of us will be at City Hall this afternoon as the council finally gets back from its three week leave of absence. Though about hitting up Landmark Commission for a slice of Bama Pie, but if nothing else it might be worth a visit to the Public Safety Committee meeting, where, for on ... More >>

Amazing But True: City's Not Giving Up On, Um, "Problematic" Bama Pie Project

This is what the Bama Pie building looked like when I drove by it on New Year's Day of this year.​Longtime Friends of Unfair Park probably don't need a recap concerning the tragicomic goings-on at the former Bama Pie Co. building across the street from Fair Park. This blog is littered with stories ... More >>

Luna's Tortilla Factory Lives!

The Luna Tortilla Factory, built in 1938 and due for a redo courtesy Brandt Wood and El Fenix's Mike Karns​When last we looked in on the old Luna's Tortilla Factory, it was joining the old Dallas High School, the Statler Hilton, Deep Ellum and other local historic landmarks on Preservation Dallas' ... More >>

One More Try at Razing 508 Park Avenue, Even As Miss. Officials to Turn Robert Johnson's Birthplace Into Tourist Destination

Justin Terveen​On Thursday, the owners of 508 Park Avenue will ask the City Plan Commission for permission to demolish the building in which Robert Johnson, Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, and Charlie Parker once recorded. Two months ago, the Landmark Commission denied the application, upholding ... More >>

Errol McKoy, State Fair President, Talks About Why Fair Park Needs That Big Green House

This, per the State Fair's plans sent to Landmark last week, is more or less what the green house will look like. And where it'll go. Sorry for the quality; best we could do with what we got.​Finally spoke with Errol McKoy about that green house he's wanting to plant at Fair Park; our Q&A foll ... More >>

Don't Raze Me, Bro: Considering the Latest Ordinance Allowing for Historic Demolitions

​Tomorrow morning, the Dallas City Attorney's Office will present yet another version of its ordinance that would allow for the demolition of buildings in historically designated districts. Surely you know what this is all about -- we've been down this road since, oh, August 4, 2008, when the the ... More >>

Owners of 508 Park Ave. to Landmark Commission: The Bridge "Virtually Doomed Redevelopment of the Entire Area"

Justin TerveenThe former Warner Bros. Pictures storage facility in which Robert Johnson, Bob Wills, the Texas Playboys and, possibly, Charlie Parker once recorded lives -- for now.The city's Landmark Commission on Tuesday afternoon upheld an August 12 decision by its Central Business District Task ... More >>

If This Goes On Any Longer, Maybe Dallas's Historic Structures Will Just Raze Themselves

Sam MertenKatherine Seale speaking to ZOAC last monthRepresentatives from Preservation Dallas and the Landmark Commission met yesterday morning with the Zoning Ordinance Advisory Committee and first assistant city attorney Chris Bowers to hammer out the details of a proposed ordinance aimed at expe ... More >>

The First Round in Fight Over 508 Park Avenue Goes to History and the Preservationists

Justin Terveen​To no one's surprise, on Wednesday evening the Landmark Commission's Central Business District Task Force decided, unanimously, Colby Properties' request to tear down 508 Park Avenue. The simple reason: The three members of the task force do not buy the owners' claim that the 1920s- ... More >>

The Downtown Site Where Robert Johnson, Bob Wills Recorded Takes Its First Significant Step Down Path to Destruction

Paula Bosse​Here we go again -- though, perhaps, for the final time.Unfair Park has learned that this week, Glazer's Distributors and Colby Properties, the owners of 508 Park Avenue downtown, filed with the city a certificate of demolition that would allow for the razing of the former Warner Bros. ... More >>

Turf War: In Junius Heights, a Man With a Fake Lawn Creates Real Problem at City Hall

View Larger MapJust returned from Dallas City Hall, where, in just a few, the Landmark Commission will meet to formally discuss all the items you'll find listed here. Sadly, we won't get to see the Statler shroud: Mark Doty, the city's historic district planner, told the commissioners that AIA Dalla ... More >>

Exactly One Year Later, Preservationists and City Still at Odds Over Teardown Ordinance

​It's been precisely one year since we first wrote about efforts to rewrite the ordinance that clarifies when, why and how the city can demolish a structure in a historic district. In the months since then, there have been myriad meetings during which preservationists and city attorneys have attem ... More >>

Plethora of City Attorneys Unable to Push New Demolition Ordinance Past Committee

Sam MertenCity plan commissioners Neil Emmons (right) and Robert Ekbald (left) watched as Katherine Seale of Preservation Dallas spoke this morning to the Zoning Ordinance Advisory Committee.Much to the chagrin of the half dozen city attorneys attending this morning's Zoning Ordinance Advisory Comm ... More >>

City Tells 508 Park Avenue Owners: Clean Up or Pay Up ... A Small Fortune, Every Single Day

As promised here's the city's complaint brought against Colby Properties today in Dallas County District Court. In the complaint -- and the request for a temporary and permanent injunction against the owners of 508 Park Avenue -- the city is seeking $1,000 per day for every listed violation of both ... More >>

Robert Johnson's Grandson Has the Blues Over What to Do With 508 Park Avenue

Dogwood Folk ArtSteven Johnson, grandson of Robert Johnson, contacted Unfair Park today after reading this week's cover story concerning the fate of 508 Park Ave. downtown, where the Mississippi bluesman recorded in June 1937. Says Johnson -- vice president of the Robert Johnson Blues Foundation in ... More >>

Dallas Demolition Derby

Preservationists win a battle, but the war goes on

To Raze or Not to Raze? That is the Question Faced By the City Council.

What you see at top is the apartment structure at 104 S. Edgefield in Oak Cliff -- or what remains of it, following a fire in 2005. Twice the city has tried to demo the building, for obvious reasons; it's the very definition of what staff calls "an imminent threat to public health and safety." In Ja ... More >>

Tonight, the Landmark Commission Will Discuss Tearing Down Just a Wee Bit of Magnolia Station. Still.

Whilst browsing through the City Secretary's virtual stack of boards and commissions meetings scheduled for today, we came across this interesting shindig scheduled for this evening. The Landmark Commission is convening a Economic Review Panel to discuss demolishing a piece of the Magnolia Stati ... More >>

Weighing History Against "Imminent Threats to Public Health and Safety"

Extreme Home Demolition Makeover

Angela Hunt is Pissed

From Hard Rock to Rubble, Most Likely

The Old Hard Rock's Future Will Be Decided Today. Feel Free To, You Know, Rock Out.

The Fight Over the Old Hard Rock Cafe Building Just Got a Little More...Interesting

Re: Hard Rock and a Hard Place

Deep Ellum? Yeah, Sounds Familiar...

One More Bit of Dallas' History About to Bite the Dust

Big-Ticket Laura

No fix for potholes, but big parks for the fat cats

This Old House

Historic preservationists sift through the sawdust of the great closet debate