Dallas residents will get an update on the condition of City Hall early next week, months after hearing initial repair cost estimates that ranged from $152 million to more than $300 million.
The Finance Committee will be briefed on City Hall during its Monday meeting scheduled for noon.
The briefing is expected to include results of a repair cost study conducted by the Dallas Economic Development Corporation and engineering consultant AECOM.
AECOM conducted a repair cost study in 2016, found repairs estimated to cost nearly $19 million and replacements just under $93 million. However, it did not include water-infiltration assessments, engineering reviews, code compliance requirements, or addressing the removal of unknown hazardous materials.
City staff have said water leaks, obsolete electrical systems, plumbing failure, roof replacement, and lack of accessibility code compliance are among a steep repair list for the historic I.M. Pei building.
The updated report is also expected to evaluate office space requirements, and compare the costs of leasing, purchasing, or constructing replacement office space against repairs
Repair costs could impact whether the city of Dallas stays at 1500 Marilla Street or moves to a high-rise in downtown.
Meanwhile, discussions are underway to preserve building designed by renowned Chinese-American architect I.M. Pei, whether the City Council decides to keep it as its city hall or not.
Dallas' Designation Committee met this week to discuss preservation criteria for landmarking City Hall, which, if approved by city council, could make it difficult to demolish or alter the building.
Designation Committee Chair Daron Tapscott said every member of the Landmark Commission recommended the committee initiate the preservation criteria process four months ago. He said it showed the commission's acknowledgement that it was a significant building.
Dallas City Hall is a cast-in-place concrete structure with a distinct modern style. Planning for the building started in the mid-1960s after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and officially opened in 1978.
The committee hopes to send a recommendation to the Landmark Commission within a month. Once the commission receives it and makes a recommendation, the ordinance approving the criteria goes to the Plan Commission and then to City Council.
If a landmark designation is finalized for the I.M. Pei building, it would set preservation criteria any owner of the building would have to comply with, committee member Marcel Quimby said.
Dallas is the only major city that tailors preservation standards to the uniqueness of each project, Tapscott told KERA. The challenge committee members have faced with modern architecture is the lack of documented preservation criteria for some 20th century materials.
"It is an iconic building," Tapscott said. "We're trying to make sure that the part of it that's iconic is protected, but not so rigidly that it can't be modified."
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