The Dallas City Council will consider its policy direction for the future of City Hall this week — but residents are not letting the decision be made in silence.
Residents packed into council chambers during the Economic Development Committee meeting on Monday. Some wore buttons that said "Save City Hall" and others that said "Connect the Core".
The high turnout came after a recent report — conducted by the Dallas Economic Development Corporation and engineering consultant AECOM — estimated that a full update of City Hall could cost up to a billion dollars.
Pending City Council approval, the Economic Development Committee would take the lead on all actions related to the potential redevelopment of the city hall site. City staff would also be permitted to estimate move out costs should city hall be relocated to a high-rise in downtown.
Residents gave various reasons for why City Hall should stay or be moved during the two hours of public comment on Monday, but all agreed on prioritizing the future vision of the city.
Here are some of the reasons why Dallas residents are speaking out about City Hall.
Renovation costs
The up to one billion dollar price tag for full updates to City Hall was published months after initial repair cost estimates ranged from $152 million to more than $300 million.
Prior to those initial costs, AECOM conducted a repair cost study in 2016 that found repairs would 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.
Some council members and residents, like Quin Matthews, are skeptical about the actual cost of repairing the building and want another opinion.
"Do you believe those figures?" Matthews asked council members. "And do you believe they deserve additional scrutiny before we abandon city hall?"
Resident and businesswoman Cookie Peadon said she helped relocate American Airlines' headquarters and has experience with what it takes to relocate people from one building to another.
She called costs proposed for City Hall "grossly exaggerated".
"The rush to make a decision includes lots of opportunity for oversights, miscalculations," Peadon said. "I've seen nothing that says what the truly allocated cost of relocating a city hall to another building would be."
Historic preservation
Dallas City Hall was built by renowned Chinese-American architect I.M. Pei and is a cast-in-place concrete structure with a distinct brutalist style angled toward downtown.
Residents, architects, and historic preservationists have spoken on the significance of the building.
Discussions are underway to preserve the building. Dallas' Designation Committee is reviewing preservation criteria for landmarking City Hall which, if approved by city council, could make it difficult to demolish or alter the building.
Downtown growth
For some residents who wore "Connect the Core" pins, discussion about City Hall opens the conversation about growing business in downtown.
Downtown Dallas Inc. CEO Jennifer Scripps applauded the Dallas EDC and AECOM study, which she said showed that the building needs major comprehensive rehabilitation.
She mentioned investing public dollars in libraries, parks, sanitation, and public safety.
"These are the essential services that taxpayers expect to be prioritized ahead of pouring millions of dollars into a building that most residents have never visited," Scripps said.
She said Downtown Dallas Inc. would work closely with the city to better connect the site to downtown.
Dallas Mavericks
Residents have speculated that the Dallas Mavericks could be eyeing 1500 Marilla Street as a potential site for its future arena.
CBS News reported last year that the Mavericks plan to leave American Airlines Center after summer of 2031.
American businesswoman Miriam Adelson has a controlling stake in the Mavericks. Adelson is also a primary shareholder of resort company Las Vegas Sands. Patrick Dumont, who is the governor of the Dallas Mavericks, is also the chairman and CEO of Las Vegas Sands.
Las Vegas Sands planned to build a destination resort with room for casino gaming — if legalized by the state of Texas — in Irving last year, but took out the casino gaming element after strong community pushback.
Some residents, like Carol Bell-Walton, brought up the Dallas Mavericks and concern over casinos.
"How do we know that gambling is going to be legalized? What do you guys know that I don't know?," Bell-Walton said. "Because I see the Bible Belt kind of getting tighter, not really loosening up."
She also mentioned that a space needed for an arena might not stop with City Hall and could extend to the library.
Assistant City Manager Robin Bentley told council members that the Mavericks have been eyeing downtown, but they have not heard anything from the team.
Transparency
Transparency was a common theme among resident comments on Monday, spurred by skepticism over estimated renovation costs and concerns over outside influence.
Resident Matthew Bach said that council members should find a way to allow for public transparency.
"And I can tell you, as a citizen, you're squandering public goodwill by not having a transparent, robust open discussion and rushing this along," Bach said. "And that's something that you can control."
Council Member Cara Mendelsohn, who is not on the Economic Development Committee, spoke against the full council voting on City Hall decisions on Wednesday.
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