Newly renovated Hall of State at Fair Park damaged by winter storm

DALLAS - The Hall of State at Fair Park will need extensive repair only months after major renovation was completed.

The building that dates back to the 1930s suffered roughly $3.2 million worth of flood and freeze damage during the winter storm.

RELATED: $14 million Hall of State restoration project nearly complete

"It’s a bit of irony and tragedy to be talking about it on Texas Independent Day," said Veletta Forsythe Lill, the board chair for the Dallas Historical Society and a former Dallas city council member.

But the real threat is to the Dallas Historical Society’s documents and artifacts that were stored in the Hall of State.

"We’re still determining how much we need to expend for the conservation of items as we house part of our archives there," Forsythe Lill said. "We believe almost everything can be saved. It’s really about we will need to do some conservation of the items."

The city-owned building also includes public art in the walls that will need to be conserved as well.

The work will need to be done with lightning speed, something the city of Dallas is not really known for.

"Water and humidity are enemies of art and archives. So it’s a matter of doing this work as quickly as possible," Forsythe Lill said.  "They are not known for moving at lightning speed and at the same time we have an emergency in this building."

She said she has faith that the items in the building will be saved through with the hard work and efforts by the members of the Dallas Historical Society.

"Our bigger concern right now is getting the building and the public art, the responsibility of the city, to be moved," Forsythe Lill said.

The nearby Cotton Bowl also suffered about $2 million worth of damage.

LINK: www.dallashistory.org