Dallas City Council approves resolution to explore leaving Dallas City Hall

DALLAS - Dallas City Council members approved a measure to explore options for leaving Dallas City Hall while, but left the door open to staying in the iconic building.

Resolution to explore leaving City Hall passes

What we know:

The resolution approved will explore options to buy or lease a new City Hall building. It was amended to include a plan to pay for repairs to the current building that would be compared side by side to the options to leave.

Dallas City Council approved the resolution by a 9-6 vote. The vote came around 1 a.m. Thursday morning after 14 hours of debate.

Councilman Chad West told FOX 4's Lori Brown that if the city decides to stay or leave City Hall, the resolution includes proposals to redevelop the land around the building.

"We still should be looking at redevelopment options to tie it into the convention center later on, because otherwise it just equals ghost town, which is what we have now," West said. "And of course, if we decide to move and City Hall itself gets repurposed or demolished and something gets built there, we need to have a projected plan for what that could look like as well."

Debate on City Hall's future

Local perspective:

Around 100 residents spoke about their desire to keep the current Dallas City Hall, the historic structure designed by architect I.M. Pei.

"The thought of losing this land to private hands is disheartening. A paid-off asset, unfair to taxpayers, built on what is here," Meredith Jones, a Dallas resident, said.

"The decision belongs to the people, not the city council," David Boss, the former manager of Dallas City Hall, said.

Several questioned why the price tag for a repair is public knowledge, but the cost for a move isn't.

"The public deserves to know the value of the land we are giving up. Dallas deserves a careful decision, not a rushed one," resident Azael Alvarez said.

Future Mavs arena looms large

Dallas City Council went back and forth on the resolution, amending it before it finally passed. Much of the conversation revolved around the Dallas Mavericks' potential interest in the site for a new arena.

Mayor Eric Johnson lamented that conversation revolved around the Mavs' future and not City Hall itself.

"A  conversation about a particular sports team and where you want them should never have been part of the conversation because that was not what was infront of us," Johnson said. "I've never seen such vehement opposition to gathering more information."

Councilwoman Cara Mendelsohn wore a Mavericks T-shirt to a recent hearing due to the continued conversation around them.

"We're talking a lot about the Mavs. They're the elephant in the room, but they're actually not here, so let's at least let them have a seat at the horseshoe," Mendelsohn said on Monday.

Residents were also upset at the idea of City Hall being bulldozed to make way for a new Mavs arena.

"The Mavericks were ridiculed nationally, and still are. Worst trade in the history of the NBA," one resident said Monday. "The decision to knock this building down without all the facts and allowing the people to make the decision is your Luka Dončić trade."

A potential 10-digit repair cost

The backstory:

Experts who assessed Dallas City Hall said the 47-year-old building’s mechanical, plumbing, heating, air conditioning, and electrical systems don’t meet modern standards. 

It put a $906 million to $1.4 billion price tag on keeping the iconic building, which was designed by the famous Chinese architect I.M. Pei, for another 20 years.

Downtown Dallas Inc., an advocacy group for Downtown Dallas, said last week they support leaving the current City Hall site.

"We believe Dallas City Hall is no longer serving its intended purpose. The important functions that happen and must continue to be evolved and innovated within our city government are inefficient and truly stymied in that space," said Jennifer Scripps, President and CEO of Downtown Dallas Inc. told the crowd. "Our board called a special called meeting and voted unanimously in support of pursuing options to relocate City Hall and redevelop the site. We were we feel that the opportunity is huge."

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