As we were driving away from the Museum of the American Railroad a couple of weeks ago, my wife asked: "What's up with the Dallas Firefighter's Museum, anyway?" Looked closed, but far from it: The council's Public Safety Committee will be briefed at noon Monday on plans for an upgrade at the 38-year-old museum (a joint venture between the city, Dallas Fire-Rescue and the nonprofit that operates the place) located in the 103-year-old former Fire Station No. 5 across the street from the embattled train museum.
Among the scheduled fix-'em-ups are plans to redo the facade so it looks as it did in 1907, upgrade the HVAC and install an education center for the young'uns. The only hitch: The makeover will cost around $10 million, and the economy has turned a four-year renovation program into a seven-year redo, at least. And the city, which leases the space for $1 a year, wants the museum to up its min contribution from $500,000 to closer to $600,000.
And speaking of council briefings, Oncor higher-ups will make an appearance at the horseshoe Wednesday, at Angela Hunt's request, to talk about its Snowstorm Power Restoration Efforts -- man, that was fast. After the jump, Oncor's graphic that explains how it deals with calls reporting power outages -- so easy a first-grader can follow along, trust me. And, from the looks of the briefing prepared for council, about the only thing Oncor thinks needs improvement is "communication, communication, communication about our restoration process and progress [and] estimated restoration timeframes." So you're saying it's communication, then?
