The city of Dallas is keeping its options open when it comes to the future of City Hall. A City Council vote early Thursday directed City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert to look into options for redevelopment of the City Hall site.
The Finance Committee recommended the resolution last week. Council Member Chad West, who is chair of the Finance Committee, said it also allows city staff to explore options for relocating emergency services from City Hall and looking at real estate options.
Bizor Tolbert said it was not the finish line — it allows city staff to gather more information.
"It does not bind the City Council to make a decision on whether or not the future of City Hall is not located here," Bizor Tolbert said. "We would like to present additional market data that you've asked us for, that we believe can be beneficial in how you continue to evaluate the options."
An amendment included in West's motion will ensure city staff also look into repair plans for the current City Hall property and all updates would come to the full council.
These discussions are happening after a recent study estimated that it would cost up to $1 billion to fully update City Hall, built by Chinese-American architect I.M. Pei.
More than 70 people signed up to speak about City Hall.
Residents have spoken in favor of keeping the current building for months. They have asked for transparency in the process and have questioned the speed of the process.
Diane Birdwell was among the majority of speakers in favor of keeping the building. She said she was not surprised the discussion to tear down the building was happening.
"This is how Dallas has done things," Birdwell said. "They disregard what the voters want, and the billionaires and millionaires in Preston Hollow and the Park Cities and now Las Vegas, apparently, get to tell y'all what to do."
Residents have speculated that the Dallas Mavericks could be eyeing 1500 Marilla Street as a potential site for its future arena. The team's controlling stakeholder and its governor have ties to the resort company Las Vegas Sands.
Dallas Mavericks CEO Rick Welts said this week that there was no project in the works until the city signals that "there’s something to talk about".
Assistant City Manager confirmed to council members on Monday that, while the Mavericks have been eyeing downtown, there is no deal in the works.
Despite the strong support for City Hall, several people have spoken in favor of investing the money elsewhere.
Lifelong South Dallas resident Antong Lucky called the support for the I.M. Pei "weaponized historical preservation".
"We literally have people fighting harder to protect a piece of concrete [than] they've ever fought to protect and invest in the lives and the communities sitting right across I-30," Lucky said.
Groups like Connect the Core and Downtown Dallas Inc. have said that the City Hall property could be an opportunity to grow business in downtown. Those conversations are happening months after AT&T announced it would move its headquarters out of downtown Dallas in favor of Plano.
When asked about the "rush" to decide on the future of City Hall, Council Member West told WFAA that it was tied to the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center Dallas and its master plan renovations.
"If City Hall is going to stay, then [the convention center] needs to be designed around City Hall," West said. "If City Hall is going to leave, then a complete different design on that eastern portion of the convention center could ensue."
He added that City Hall will dictate the development opportunities that could happen at the convention center.
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