Residents Rallying to Save City Hall Worried That ‘The Fix Is In’

Hundreds of Dallas residents flooded a City Hall auditorium Monday evening to beg council members to slow down the conversations about the future of the historic, brutalist building. 

The only issue? The three council members who attended the meeting are the ones already on the side of residents and preservationists who don’t want to see City Hall torn down or sold. Around the horseshoe, they appear to be outnumbered. 

The council has heard two briefings on the state of City Hall over the last two weeks. It’s a building that staffers say is plagued by hot and cold spells, water infiltration and plumbing issues, a lack of accessibility, rickety elevators, a deteriorating roof, code compliance failures and faulty fire suppression systems — all of which could cost somewhere between $152 million and $345 million to fix. From early conversations, city officials have informed council members that they could pursue a bond program to renovate the downtown facility, or consider selling the building and the attractive land it sits on, and renting out office space downtown. 

As the weeks have gone on, a growing number of council members have expressed interest in the latter option. The strongest holdouts appear to be council members Paul Ridley, Cara Mendelsohn and Bill Roth, the three representatives who attended Monday’s meeting. All three have requested that the conversation about City Hall be paused to allow for a third party to conduct a thorough evaluation of the building’s condition, and they have asked city staff to provide more concrete numbers for future discussions. 

“Many [council] members seem very interested in having city staff look into renting [a downtown space], but that’s something we still don’t have the facts on,” Ridley told the packed room. “One of the first issues that we need to address is what is the actual condition of City Hall?” 

Ridley added that the plaza in front of City Hall often serves as a meeting place for protesters, and that he worries moving to an “anonymous” downtown space will stifle the rights of Dallasites to assemble. 

Dozens of Dallas residents spoke in favor of preserving the building, which was designed by the renowned architect I.M. Pei. Many referenced the building’s history as a symbol of rebuilding in the wake of the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. 

“The vision was to create an iconic symbol for Dallas to bring it out of that tragedy,” said Peter Bahla, a local architect. “Many people may not understand it, but it has value.” 

Several speakers expressed distrust over the way the conversation about City Hall’s future has been handled so far. 

There has been considerable speculation that the Dallas Mavericks are eyeing downtown land in their search for a new arena space, although this interest has not been confirmed in conversations at the Horseshoe. Residents seem convinced that a deal has been cut with the professional sports team behind the scenes, and that, eventually, Mavericks owner Miram Adleson plans to turn the downtown land into a place for gambling. Those at the microphone on Monday spat out the words “20-year arena” and “casino” as if they were dirty.

Former Dallas City Council member Philip Kingston lambasted the horseshoe for going into executive session during Monday’s briefing of the council’s Finance and Economic Development Committees. He accused the city leaders of being “highly irresponsible” by conducting conversations about finances and next steps behind closed doors. 

“The fix is in, and it has been for a long time,” Kingston said. “Until [city] staff demonstrates some sort of responsibility in regards to Dallas real estate, they don’t need to be making any more deals.” 

A majority of speakers urged Ridley, Mendelsohn and Roth to do what they can to slow the conversation about City Hall’s future, but it is unclear what will happen next, even if that slowdown occurs. Fans of the building have questioned the nearly $200 million gap in the estimate of what it will cost to fix up City Hall, but during Monday’s briefing, Assistant City Manager Donzell Gipson warned that the unclear price reflects the general uncertainty about the building’s condition. 

For instance, that cost estimate does not even factor in the potential for asbestos in the building, which was constructed in the 1970s, simply because no one knows if there is any asbestos in the first place. (Many construction materials used throughout the 1970s contained asbestos.) 

The horseshoe’s holdouts have expressed skepticism about the accuracy of staff’s cost estimates, but even if they eventually come back on the lower end, there is still no clear answer about where the city will find $100 million. There are some unencumbered funds from the 2017 bond that could potentially be put to use, but otherwise, City Hall will have to wait for a new bond program to allocate the funds. That could take years and would require voter approval.

Still, if Monday’s rally is any indication, there would be support for that option. 

“How do you know where you’re going if you don’t know where you came from?” said resident Raven Leday. “The increasing [cost of maintenance] is a red flag. We have all these different initiatives coming to Dallas. Are we building a culture, or growing a pocketbook?”