Landmark Commission

Home of DISD Pioneer Kathlyn Gilliam Could Become a Historic Landmark

By the time she died in December 2011, Kathlyn Gilliam's reputation as a pioneering civil rights advocate had been tarnished somewhat by her role, cemented during 23 years on the DISD board of trustees, in establishing the race-obsessed bureaucracy that has long since stopped benefiting the district ... More >>

Council to Get Sneak Peek at Muni Building Redo, Update on UNT's Downtown Law School

​Mighty kind of Dallas City Hall to offer all these briefings wrapping up a few loose ends before I get up outta here. First Sylvan Thirty, then the old Dallas High School, then the Cotton Bowl, and now Old Dallas City Hall, which one day should become the University of North Texas at Dallas Colle ... More >>

Your First Look at 508 Park Ave.'s Deck (and Band Shell), And a Rare Photo Taken in '46

Click to enlarge these first looks at the new-look 508 Park Avenue. You'll find more, many more, below.​Amongst all the maybes, could-bes and one-days downtown, one development's as close as it gets to a Sure Thing: 508 Park Avenue, which First Presbyterian is in the process of turning into The Mu ... More >>

After Years of Foreclosures and Frustration, North Oak Cliff Apartments Back on Track

​As conceptual renderings are my kryptonite, here's one that landed in the inbox late yesterday -- a look at what Wood Partners says it will build on that vacant lot at 1836 W. Davis, not so long ago the site of the Cliffwood Apartments. The address, of course, is familiar: A few years ago, you ma ... More >>

Why "For Sale" Sign In Front of Downtown Masonic Temple Came Down This Week

Via Baylor Lodge 1235​For some -- local preservationists, say, or music fans -- one of the biggest stories of 2011 was First Presbyterian Church's purchase of 508 Park Avenue; at last, the long-ago Brunswick Records regional office in which Robert Johnson, Bob Wills and possibly Charlie Parker rec ... More >>

New Owners of Davy Crockett Are Cleaning Up the Historic School. But Then What?

​Speaking of historic buildings ....A few days ago a friend of the show sent word that she'd seen workmen inside 108-year-old David Crockett Elementary, which had fallen into a state of grave disrepair in recent years. I reminded her: Back in August, Good Signature Management bought the building f ... More >>

Your First Look at Proposed Renovations for Historic Pike Park in Old Little Mexico

​Pike Park, on Harry Hines as you're heading into downtown, sits more or less in the shadow of the American Airlines Center; you've probably driven by it hundreds of times, even if you've never stopped once. Built in 1914 at the cost of a little more than $18,000 in what used to be known as the Se ... More >>

But City's Suit Against Fair Park Train Museum Is Gone. Trains Will Be Too By Year's End.

​That beer and wine lawsuit's never going away. But the city's lawsuit against the Museum of the American Railroad in Fair Park, which first pulled on to the tracks in January 2010, is officially over. As of yesterday, matter of fact, which I discovered when pulling up that court jacket only to se ... More >>

Fair Park Railroad Museum to Take Baby Step Tomorrow Toward Moving Up to Frisco

​Speaking of lawsuits involving the city ...It's been two months since we learned of a likely resolution in the city's case against the Museum of the American Railroad at Fair Park, which the City Attorney's Office sued to remove in January 2010 so it could reclaim the land for State Fair of Texas ... More >>

As First Presbyterian Closes on 508 Park Ave., A Closer Look at Its Plans for Landmark Location

Click to embiggen​Late last summer we caught wind of First Presbyterian's plans to purchase 508 Park Avenue, the former Brunswick Records regional office near Dallas City Hall in which Robert Johnson, Bob Wills and others once recorded. Yesterday, after myriad stops in front of the Landmark Commis ... More >>

Tower of Power: Fair Park Crawls Closer to Becoming Year-Round Destination

Photos by Leslie MinoraThe Observation Tower Ride will fill this 30-foot hole behind the Cotton Bowl. Don't worry, they're covering it up for the State Fair.​There is a big hole in Fair Park. Finally. Eventually the crater will be filled with a 500-foot pole surrounded by a doughnut-shaped slowly ... More >>

If Landmark Allows Amphitheater, First Presby Expects to Close on 508 Park Ave. Next Month

Click to embiggen for a better look at First Presby's plans to freshen up 508 Park Avenue, should it get Landmark's OK to tear down 1900 Young next door.​The timing, if nothing else, is remarkable. May 8 marks the 100th birthday of Robert Johnson, the Mississippi bluesman who cut half his influent ... More >>

Hop Inside the 500-Foot-Tall Fair Park Tower Ride With the Architect Who Designed It

​Couldn't make it to Monday's Landmark Commission meeting, during which there was discussion of the proposed 500-foot-tall Top of Texas Centennial Tower at Fair Park that State Fair of Texas president Errol McKoy hopes to plant in his summertime Midway. But this afternoon I spoke with Good Fulton ... More >>

Yet Another Exciting Addition to Fair Park: "Proposed Cotton Bowl Museum." Pardon?

Flickr user: steevithak​Shame about this weather -- if only because the ice and snow put the kibosh on our plans to head down to Fair Park this morning for a meeting of the Landmark Commission's Fair Park Task Force, which was called on account of the weather. Because, you see, there was this one ... More >>

First Look at Fair Park's 500-Foot-Tall "Observation Tower Ride" Meant for Midway

Click to enlargen this look at Errol McKoy's 500-foot erection proposed for Fair Park.​It's been almost two years since State Fair of Texas President Errol McKoy began talking about his plans to take a bite out of Six Flags' business by erecting his own monster Top of Texas Centennial Tower on the ... More >>

Yes, But Is It Art? Landmark Would Prefer Painting Go on Fridge, Maybe, But Not Gate.

​I just had Schutze come take a look at the artwork you see above. I explained to him: Stephen Lovelace, who lives on Worth Street in Junius Heights, wants to use this large piece as a driveway gate the city has made him take down as it's presently out of code. The gate, along with the Fair Park t ... More >>

NYLO Hotels, In Plano and Las Colinas, Moving Into South Side -- Old Coffin Bldg., Actually

​We've documented developer Jack Matthews's plans for a hotel next door to his South Side on Lamar ever since we stumbled across it on the Landmark Commission's agenda last July. Back then, Matthews's subsidiary, CCH Lamar Partners I LP, told the commission: It had big plans to restore the old Dal ... More >>

First Presby Moves Closer to Buying 508 Park. But Not Before City Gives a "Courtesy Review."

Justin Terveen​Back in August we discovered that at long last, 508 Park Avenue -- the building in which Robert Johnson, Bob Wills and perhaps even Charlie Parker recorded -- had a savior: next-door neighbor First Presbyterian Church of Dallas. But almost four months later, the church has yet to se ... More >>

After Fighting to Keep Adamson From Becoming Historic Landmark, DISD Backs Off. For Now.

​Speaking of historic landmarks ...For more than a year, the Dallas Independent School District has been fighting the Landmark Commission to keep Adamson High School from being designated as a city landmark -- so much so that in September '09, the board passed a resolution that said, in part, "any ... More >>

W.H. Adamson High School Gets One Step Closer to Historic Landmark Status

​In May 2008 the Landmark Commission's Designation Committee first took up the topic of W.H. Adamson High School, once known as Oak Cliff High. At the time it was expected that the Dallas Independent School District might have some issues with designation -- not only because the district has only ... More >>

Dallas Architect Takes to Craigslist to Find Partners Interested in Rehabbing 807 Elm

Justin Terveen​I've left a few messages today for Taylor Burns, the officer at Park Cities Bank charged with tending to 807 Elm Street. As I noted Monday, PCB, which got the property in foreclosure, would like to raze the 85-year-old building sitting in a parking lot across from El Centro, though ... More >>

Four Years Later, Jury Finds TCI West End Guilty of Fraud For Razing MKT Freight Station

Justin TerveenFor the past four years, the demolition of this building has been much discussed on the Dallas Fort Worth Urban Forum.​On Monday I noted that city officials were anxiously awaiting a verdict in the 4-year-old case of City of Dallas v. TCI West End Inc., which concerned the demolition ... More >>

Against DISD's Wishes, Adamson High About to Get One Step Closer to Landmark Status

​Countless times, Dallas Independent School District spokesman Jon Dahlander has said: The district has no plans to raze W.H. Adamson High School, due for an expansion sooner than later. But the district also doesn't want the historic Oak Cliff school designated as a city landmark -- which, after ... More >>

Kansas Must Be So Proud of Fred Phelps and His Band of Bigots.

News & Notes: Test Scores, Grocery Stores, Modano a Red Wing? and a Peek at the Plans for the Continental Building

Carla Ranger​A few items of interest with which to belatedly kick off your work week (lucky):On Thursday we noted that Dallas Independent School Board trustee Carla Ranger has found a new obsession: banishing the minimum-grade policy that disallows teachers from handing out grades lower than 50. T ... More >>

Demolition Girl on Top, or: Liveblogging the Council's Housing Committee Meeting

Carolyn Davis makes a point -- several, actually -- concerning a proposed ordinance that makes it easier to demolish historic homes.​What it do, Friends? Today's Housing Committee meeting, which Robert warned you I'd be liveblogging, got a late start because of the overflow of the previous Pub ... More >>

Landmark Commission to Consider Designating "Endangered" Cemetery

Randy CarlisleOne of only two remaining grave markets at the Haymarket Cemetery south of I-20​As we discovered last month, the city of Dallas can't even take care of the downtown cemetery in which several former mayors are buried (including John Crockett, who served during the Civil War). So how's ... More >>

Mid-Century Modern Problems: Sorting Out What's Worth Designating Historic

​There's not a lot going on at Dallas City Hall this week and next and next, while the council goes spring breaking. But there is something of interest on the Landmark Commission's Designation Committee, which is meeting today: a vague agenda item that only says, "Discussion of Post War residentia ... More >>

Swiss Ave. Church, Now Actor's Home and Artists Residence, Almost a City Landmark

Good night, Corabeth: The city is one step closer to certifying the former St. Joseph's church and school a historic landmark.​I may have to tag along with the Landmark Commission's Designation Committee on Wednesday evening when it makes a visit to the former St. Joseph's Church and Academy on Sw ... More >>

Owner of Lake Cliff District Home Can't Blame City, Bank For Calling In the Bulldozers

500 E. 6th Street in the Lake Cliff Historic District​Henry Spruiell does not disagree with the city of Dallas: The house he owns at 500 E. 6th Street in the Lake Cliff Historic District does indeed pose what's known as an "imminent threat to public health and safety" and probably should be torn d ... More >>

The Sammons Center Wants 508 Park Ave., Masonic Temple. All They Need is Money.

The Masonic Temple on S. Harwood, which is being sold in a package of properties that also includes 508 Park Avenue, 1900 Young Street and a block on Harwood and Canton​As I wrote Friday, the owners of 508 Park Avenue will ask the City Plan Commission tomorrow for permission to demolish the buildi ... More >>

Breezeway: El Centro Wants to Put Wind Turbines on Top of Old Sangers Building

View Larger MapThose Landmark Commission meeting agendas are full of interesting hints -- like, oh, that green house the State Fair of Texas wants to build in Fair Park. Or, now, this vague note concerning the installation of 21 wind turbines on the rooftop of 801 Main Street. We should have more ab ... More >>

Zoning Committee Amends Historic Demolition Ordinance: Houses Only, If You Don't Mind.

Back in August 2008, this was among the houses depicted in the council committee briefing regarding the need for a new teardown ordinance.​Speaking of vacant downtown buildings ... When Mayor Tom Leppert unveiled his list of Central Business District buildings that needed to be brought up to code ... More >>

Razing Hell: City, Preservationists Still Arguing Over How to Tear Down Dallas's History

​We've written extensively about the yearlong battle between city attorneys and preservationists over a proposed ordinance that would expedite the demolition of historic structures, both residential and commercial. Last time we got to this was a whole two weeks ago, when the Landmark Commission ra ... More >>

As the Junius Heights Turf War Unfolds, A Look At the City's Latest Denial

​If you've been following the Junius Heights Turf War, you know that it's getting more heated than the leather inside my car in August.Since Jose Escobedo's meeting with the Landmark Commission on August 3, his application for a Certificate of Appropriateness has been denied. Escobedo already vowe ... More >>

Kiss His Grass: No Matter What City Says, Jose Escobedo Ain't About to Rip Up His Fake Lawn

​For now, at least, this final item about Jose Escobedo and his fake lawn, which the Landmark Commission wants yanked up pronto since it's not "appropriate" for a historic district. But, a warning: There will be a follow-up eventually: Escobedo says he'll appeal Landmark's ruling to the City Plan ... More >>

This Morning, Landmark Commission Will Talk About Razing, Hiding Vacant Buildings

​Hadn't planned on going to Landmark Commission this morning, but the briefing session at least does look irresistible. First up is that much-worked-over ordinance that would allow the city to tear down historic structures with nothing more than a court order. We've been writing about this thing f ... More >>

Landmark Commission Tells Man With Phony Lawn to Keep it Real ... and Yank It Out

Jose Escobedo's front lawn, which the Landmark Commission has told him to rip up pronto​Just as a Friend of Unfair Park was sending along photos of Jose Escobedo's phony front lawn, Melissa Crowe, one of our summer interns, walked into my office to report that the lawn's no mow ... pardon, the law ... More >>

Big Wrecking Balls: City, Yet Again, Considers How to Raze Buildings in Historic Districts

Almost one year ago, the city debuted a proposal to streamline the process that allows for the demolition of structures within historic districts -- by eliminating altogether the Landmark Commission, which has to approve of the razing before anyone can haul out the wrecking ball. Preservationists, t ... More >>

Forest City's "Not Ready" For Mercantile Continental to Become Landmark. Or Apartments Either. Not Just Yet.

Flickr photo: JVanTJim Truitt, Forest City's vice president of residential development, called me back today to discuss yesterday's meeting of the Landmark Commission's Designation Committee, which did indeed vote to re-initiate the historic designation process for both the Mercantile Continental Bu ... More >>

The Marcus House, Once Threatened, Is This Much Closer to Becoming a Historic Home

Stanley Marcus's former house as it looked during construction in 1938Speaking of Dallas iconic landmarks ... On August 11 of last year, Unfair Park discovered that Mark and Patty Lovvorn had filed with the Texas Historic Commission a demolition permit that would have allowed them to tear down The H ... More >>

Downtown Dallas at the Crossroads

The city's effort to clean up downtown could cost us important parts of history.

Statler Hilton Hotel: Landmark Structure or a Giant Pain?

And One More Piece of Dallas' History Turns to Rubble

Knights' Tale

Another historic emblem of black Dallas stands on the brink

Re: From Hard Rock to Rubble

Landmark Commisison Caught Between a Hard Rock and Hard Place

In Uptown, a Meeting to Keep Hard Rock Building from Becoming a Teardown

What's in David Dean's Closet? Oh. A Closet.

Save This City