Subject: Statler Hilton

• A Grand Return? Um, Maybe.

  September 5, 2007

• With the Statler Hilton's Future in Question, Last Night a Loving Look Back at Its Past

  Scott DornJo Fischer, who worked at the Statler Hilton even before it officially opened in 1956Organizers of last night's "Story of the Statler" presentation at the Dallas Center for Architecture expected, oh, maybe 30 or 40 folks to show for architect Marcel Quimby's talk about the historic, neglected hotel on Commerce Street. But it was standing-room-only -- 150 and then some, among them Mayor Tom Leppert's chief of staff Chris Heinbaugh; former council member Veletta Lill, now executive direc

  June 3, 2009

• Statler Hilton Makes National Trust's "Most Endangered" List

  May 19, 2008

• Statler Hilton Hotel: Landmark Structure or a Giant Pain?

  May 20, 2008

• Rooms With a View: Beautiful Photos of the Statler Hilton Hotel

  May 20, 2008

• History Lessons: A Sneak Preview of Tonight's Landmark Committee Meeting

  May 28, 2008

• I Meant to Take Pictures Inside The Merc. But, Really, That View is Amazing.

  June 23, 2008

• Today, Mayor Tom to Deal With Downtown's Empty Buildings

  October 14, 2008

• Watch Your Step: A Tour of Four of Downtown Dallas's Icky Vacancies

  October 15, 2008

• Never a Dull Moment on the City's Economic Development Agenda

  October 20, 2008

• Downtown Dallas at the Crossroads

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

  January 22, 2009

• Monica at 10

  A decade ago, Eduardo Greene abandoned his wife, his home and a successful restaurant, expecting a nightmare in pursuit of a dream

  November 20, 2003

• "The Story of the Statler"? Count Me In.

  Amazing the amount of Statler Hilton items for sale on eBay, among them this vintage adWord is the Dallas City Attorney's Office and the owners of the former Statler Hilton on Commerce Street are close to reaching some kind of agreement that'll keep 'em out of court, as the city attempts to get owners of vacant downtown buildings to clean up or move out and let someone else do the developing. Which I mention only because I was on the Preservation Dallas Web site today, looking for something comp

  May 22, 2009

• Statler Hilton Has Cleaned Up Its Act, Says City, Which Will Sue Owners of 508 Park Ave.

  View Larger MapChris Heinbaugh, Mayor Tom Leppert's chief of staff, told us a few weeks back that the city was close to working out deals with a few of those vacant buildings the mayor was none too happy about last October, when he gathered city officials -- including City Attorney Tom Perkins, Assistant City Manager A.C. Gonzalez, Dallas Fire-Rescue Chief Eddie Burns and DowntownDallas president John Crawford -- and essentially told property owners to clean up or sell out. Heinbaugh has further

  July 1, 2009

• If They Can't Redo the Statler Hilton, Well, They'll Just Cover the Damned Thing Up

  The city's love-hate relationship with the Statler Hilton's been well documented here, so no need to rehash that never-ending story. But there is this bit of news concerning the Hotel Conrad Built on Commerce Street: Mayor Tom and the DowntownDallas-ites would love that sumbitch covered, if'n you don't mind, before the scheduled opening of Main Street Garden in October. Hence the just-announced designed competition open only to American Institute of Architects members: "A Temporary Facade: Veili

  July 14, 2009

• I Remember, Way Back in '81 ...

  Courtesy Red Oak Kid​Out old pal the Red Oak Kid has been posting to his Flickr page a bunch of photos of downtown Dallas from the late '70s and early '80s, including this one of the old Dallas Public Library on Commerce Street (attached to the Statler Hilton, natch). For some reason, they all look about 100 years old. Worth the Tuesday-morning trip down Amnesia Lane.

  July 28, 2009

• 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 for a year, but as Sam noted a couple of weeks back, it's still a point of contention among preservationists (who thought this whole point was to deal with blighted structures in residential areas) and

  August 3, 2009

• The Master Plan: Park and Rec Votes to Spend $2.5 Mil to Turn Parking Lot into Pacific Plaza

  ​This morning at City Hall, the Park and Recreation Department's Planning and Design Committee authorized the acquisition of the last piece of land the city needs for the long-planned, $9 million Pacific Plaza Park project. Right now, it's just a parking lot west of Live Oak and St. Paul streets that the city intends to transform into a 3-acre patch of green. But, according to the Dallas Parks Master Plan finalized in December 2004 (Page 84, to be exact):The concept for Pacific Plaza is the c

  August 20, 2009

• 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 or else, preservationists fretted that he had his sights set on razing, oh, the Statler Hilton or 508 Park Avenue, for starters. It made a certain amount of sense -- because, after all, just two mont

  September 10, 2009

• City, Hamiltons to Rework Atmos Complex Deal in Hopes of Jump-Starting Development

  The Atmos Complex, which the Hamiltons are still intending to develop behind the Statler Hilton​Larry and Ted Hamilton took control of the four-building Atmos Complex, situated almost directly behind the Statler Hilton, a little more than a year ago, after Forest City got tired of paying penalties to the city (about $250,000) for having done next to nada. The Hamiltons, who just got done with the Aloft Hotel downtown and who resuscitated the likes of the Dallas Power & Light and Davis buil

  October 6, 2009

• Weeks Before It's Scheduled to Open, Shining a Light Onto Main Street Garden

  Patrick MichelsNew York-based artist Leni Schwendinger under her first of five Main Street Garden light sculptures Monday night, displaying its autumn color scheme.​Light sculpture artist Leni Schwendinger and her team spent Monday evening downtown, programming the seasonal color schemes on the first of her installations on the site that, come November 5, will be the new Main Street Garden. The first of her SpectraScape structures is more or less complete: a pair of green glass panels, each be

  October 13, 2009

• The Man With the Latest Downtown Plan Says We're "A City of Districts" In Need of "Unity"

  Daniel Iacofano​Daniel Iacofano -- the "I" in MIG, Inc., which the city hired to develop the latest downtown master plan -- was at the Dallas Convention Center a couple of weeks ago collecting wish-list items from stakeholders and civilians; more than a few Friends of Unfair Park have offered suggestions since then, for which he's grateful. But, of course, there's much to be done: Downtown Dallas 360, which joins Dallas Central Business District and Visions for Dallas and Dallas Downtown Plan

  October 28, 2009

• So That's the Statler Shroud?

  ​Just drove by Main Street Garden to see how it was shaping up in advance of tonight's Official Grand Opening (promises the media release, there will be "a pyrotechnic ribbon cutting," which I think has something to do with the mayor, laser beams and his eyes ... not sure). And I noticed workers plastering the windows of the Statler Hilton with, well, what you see above -- in other words, the so-called "veil" we've been dying to see since July. If nothing else, it certainly matches the color s

  November 13, 2009