This browser does not support the Video element.
Questions raised about Dallas City Hall repair budget
A Dallas City Council member is raising questions about the exact estimate for repairs to Dallas City Hall. FOX 4's Lori Brown has more.
DALLAS - Some Dallas City Council members are questioning the city’s $329 million estimate to repair Dallas City Hall’s roof, electrical, HVAC, and plumbing systems.
The cost is part of an overall $1 billion estimate to bring the building up to date. But some of the repairs have already been made.
One council member said the company that included the cost to replace the city’s 2-year-old heating system again was either negligent or initially deceptive.
Repairing Dallas City Hall could cost more than $1B, report says
A new report from the Dallas Economic Development Corporation estimates that the cost for full repairs on Dallas City Hall could exceed $1 billion over a 20-year span.
Heater Replacement
Dallas Councilman Paul Ridley remembers city leaders approaching the council just a few years ago, requesting $4.5 million to replace the building’s entire heating system. The council gave the green light, and a new system was installed.
"And now they want to essentially rip out all that new work that is only two years old as part of this replace systems at the city hall as the cost of staying in the building," Ridley said.
Potential Dallas City Hall replacement options come to light as early tours raise concerns
Dallas leaders are following through on last week's City Council vote to explore alternatives to the current Dallas City Hall building.
It’s why he is sounding the alarm about Aecom’s $329 million estimate to repair city hall.
"They spent months inspecting the building, all of the systems to determine what it would cost to replace all of them. If during that process they didn’t discover the heating system was only two years old and still had 23 years left on its warranty, that's pure negligence," he said.
Asbestos Removal
On top of that, Ridley said a 2023 memo detailing the work shows that asbestos abatement has been conducted in the past while the building remained open.
"Contrary to the recent recommendations of the consultants who said, ‘No, we have to vacate the whole building because they is asbestos,’" he said.
Conflict of Interest
In February, Councilman Adam Bazaldua raised concerns about the costly estimate to repair the building, pointing out what he calls the panel’s conflict of interest.
"Was anyone engaged who we would not anticipate to be knocking on the door to be a part of the profiting of a sale of city hall?" Bazaldua asked.
City of Dallas, Mavericks had discussions about new arena at City Hall site "over a year ago"
The Dallas Mavericks are looking for a space to build a new arena, and according to the Mavs' CEO, they've been having conversations with the City of Dallas for well over a year about the current City Hall site.
"Not that I’m aware of," a staff member responded.
"Then why are we supposed to be comfortable proceeding with what we’ve been given?" Bazaldua asked.
"Well, these are all credible organizations," the staff member said.
"I’d like to jump in for just a second if I could. We believe based on the data and based on the assessment that’s been conducted by this team, we would not bring something to the council that even I did not support or believe that it’s factual and it’s been done through an objective lens," said City Manager Kim Tolbert.
New Estimate Requested
Ridley and other council members have requested a firm without a financial conflict of interest to conduct a new assessment and determine the cost of only the necessary repairs.
The city manager said earlier that she would release her plan to comply with that request this week.
The Source: FOX 4's Lori Brown gathered information for this story by talking to council members and listening to city council meetings.