Dallas City Hall renovation plans paused as council pursues selling landmark site

DALLAS - In a 9-6 vote late Wednesday, Dallas City Council members opted not to renovate Dallas City Hall.

Instead, their vote directed the city manager to present options for the sale or transfer of the landmark building.

What we know:

After working through a massive list of 130 registered speakers on Wednesday night, Dallas City Councilman Chad West moved to pause any vote to renovate Dallas City Hall. 

He also asked City Manager Kim Tolbert to pursue options to sell or transfer the 15-acre city hall site. 

What they're saying:

Proponents of demolishing city hall claim moving into another building will be less expensive than renovating city hall. 

"That savings is in the $100s of millions, but we don’t know the exact amount," said Dallas’ Chief Financial Officer Jack Ireland.

Ireland admitted he doesn’t yet know the cost of moving and building a new city council chamber.

The mayor’s office did not respond to FOX 4’s request for an interview. However, in a statement, Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson said it is overwhelmingly clear that relocation will be a more prudent use of taxpayer dollars and a better long-term solution for the city’s government, employees, and residents.

The other side:

Councilman Adam Bazaldua said the so-called savings involve a lot of variables like the city being able to find tenants who want to rent a spot in what would be the city’s new high-rise home.

"Those variables require us to have tenants, to become landlords, to figure out how to monetize certain assets. There are a lot of variables and it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison, something I’ve been asking for for months," he said.

Dig deeper:

Some council members pushed but ultimately failed to get the cost and environmental impact of the demolition included in the city’s proposal.

They wanted the city to reveal where the city hall debris would be taken, as well as the impact on the air quality during the demolition.

What's next:

The city manager is expected to bring the requested options to the council no later than Aug. 26.

While Wednesday night’s vote revealed a political will to demolish city hall, some council members believe the final vote will require a 2/3rd majority. In that case, a 9-6 vote would be one vote short.

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