Nathan Hunsinger
Audio By Carbonatix
Late Thursday night, Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson signaled just how serious he is about leaving the City Hall building behind.
The mayor has called for a special meeting of the Dallas City Council to convene Wednesday to deliberate on next steps in abandoning the I.M. Pei-designed facility. A public notice of the agenda shows the horseshoe will gather at 8 a.m. on June 17 and vote on two resolutions that authorize the city manager to “negotiate and execute pre-acquisition agreements” with up to four sites for a new City Hall building and a new 911 call center.
Up to $3 million in federal COVID dollars may be used to conduct “due diligence for the sites,” or to reimburse property owners for delivering the relevant information on matters such as “terms, responsibilities, and cost sharing between the property owners and the City of Dallas.”
The agenda item is a dramatic step toward departing the 48-year-old building on Marilla Street, which is reportedly in need of up to a billion-dollars in investments to address years of deferred maintenance. On Wednesday, the council formally voted not to fund those repairs in a 9-6 split. Johnson led the majority of council members, which included Council members Chad West, Zarin Gracey, Maxie Johnson, Jaime Resendez, Gay Donnell Willis, Kathy Stewart, Lori Blair and Jesse Moreno.
Council members Adam Bazaldua, Paula Blackmon, Cara Mendelsohn, Bill Roth, Laura Cadena and Paul Ridley have stood staunchly opposed to any talk of selling or redeveloping City Hall.
In a statement, Johnson lauded the decision as a step that will save a significant amount of taxpayer dollars from being flushed into the “obsolete building.”
“The City Council was also briefed on several occasions in executive session about potential new locations for City Hall, and it is overwhelmingly clear that relocation will be not only a far more prudent use of taxpayer dollars but will also be a better long-term solution for our government, city employees and all Dallasites,” Johnson said. “Instead of delivering the Dallas taxpayers a billion-dollar invoice for a dilapidated government office building that is impeding the growth of a large section of our urban core, the City Council took an important step toward realizing my vision of a downtown teeming with life, with community and with social and economic activity.”
Here’s the uncertain bit: earlier this week, Bazaldua, Blackmon and Mendelsohn sued to stop the redevelopment vote slated for this Wednesday, the other half of the repair-cost vote. Mendelsohn removed her name from the petition before a ruling was made, but in the end, Dallas County Civil Court Judge Eric Moye agreed with the representatives that the city hasn’t adequately informed residents of everything there is to know about the moving-out and redevelopment aspects of this plan.
The judge issued a temporary restraining order barring the council from proceeding with any votes on the building’s future until the court allows it.
