Dallas County commissioners are divided about continuing a lease with the Sixth Floor Museum's operating foundation.
The previously extended lease agreement expired in December, but extended four months.
Dallas County owns the building that the museum calls home.
The Dallas County Historical Foundation presented at commissioners court a proposal for long-term use of the building, which it said requires many updates and maintenance before donors fund the foundation's needs.
A request for a 4-month extension to provide more information was rejected Tuesday during Dallas County Commissioners Court.
They instead gave the foundation until the end of June to provide more information for lease agreement terms.
The historical foundation pays less than ten thousand dollars a month for two floors in the building. Lee Harvey Oswald allegedly shot President John F. Kennedy from the sixth floor of the building on Nov. 22, 1963.
Commissioner Andy Sommerman wants to know how the foundation would use the space, if the lease agreement is extended.
"I would vote for a shockingly good rate for this museum, a shockingly good rate, if they would tell us what's going on the floors," he said.
Commissioners did not agree to a four month extension, or a reconsidered three month extension.
Finally, four agreed to two months.
Commissioner Elba Garcia abstained.
"I believe that they are negotiating in good faith," she said. "Honestly, the uncertainty of the times and the fundraising is probably going to be something that is giving them pause, but nevertheless, I believe they always negotiated in good faith."
Sommerman disagreed.
"They are not going to give us any information about what they intend to use the floors for," he said. "They've just been very obstinate about that."
The county and the foundation agreed in 2022 that the museum could for two years lease space in the former administration building while the long-term use of the facility was considered.
They also agreed that year that the museum operator could occupy the second and third floors — a total of about 16,500 square feet. This amended agreement will now expire on August 31, 2025.
The museum also uses the parking lot and 49 reserved spaces for about $8,300 per month.
County Judge Clay Lewis Jenkins is interested in a fair agreement for the county and museum.
"I am not in favor of charging them a rate that they can't pay and having them move out," he said. "I am in favor of looking at what our museum consultant and our property management consultants look at and knowing that information as we determine what to do here."
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