Oh, OK. You Say You Want a Guide to Downtown's Buildings? Well, Then.

OK, so by now we're all clear on one thing: The Business Council for the Arts' downloadable downtown tour was always intended to be focused on one thing and one thing only: public art. That, says Greg Brown, program director for the Dallas Center for Architecture, "was the way it...

By Robert Wilonsky

June 2, 2010

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OK, so by now we're all clear on one thing: The Business Council for the Arts' downloadable downtown tour was always intended to be focused on one thing and one thing only: public art. That, says Greg Brown, program director for the Dallas Center for Architecture, "was the way it was presented, and the fact they included some buildings was great." But, again, architecture was never on the agenda.

But the DCFA has that covered with its Main Street District Walking Tour set to begin in September. Brown tells Unfair Park it will start at Main Street Garden "and we'll work our way west with these buildings, and more, on the route: Statler Hilton, Majestic Theatre, Comerica Tower, Wilson Building, Kirby Building, Santa Fe Building, Adolphus Hotel and Magnolia Building." In anticipation of the tour's kick-off, the DCFA is accepting docent applications through June 11, which will be followed by six weekly training sessions, for starters -- a most excellent opportunity to learn about downtown. Seriously, I am thinking of applying.

Brown says, no, there won't be a downloadable map. But DCFA is trying to build "an online resource where you can roll over a neighborhood, and it'll feature five, six buildings." But, as Brother Bill Holston pointed out this morning, such a resource exists in under-construction form right here.

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