On June 17, the Dallas City Council voted 9–5, with one member absent, to spend up to $3 million on a search for a new City Hall. The vote authorizes due diligence on relocation sites; it does not commit the city to leaving the Brutalist building designed by I. M. Pei.
The resolution lets Kimberly Bizor Tolbert, the city manager, negotiate pre-acquisition agreements and study up to four potential sites for a new City Hall and 911 call center. Tolbert is expected to bring those locations back to the council in August.
The vote followed a June 10 special meeting where the council rejected a plan to repair the current building, in a separate 9–6 vote, and directed staff to keep looking at other sites.
That meeting ended up in court. Three council members Adam Bazaldua, Paula Blackmon, and Cara Mendelsohn had gotten a judge to block some of the relocation votes, arguing the city hadn’t given the public clear enough notice. On June 16, Bazaldua and Blackmon filed a motion asking a judge to hold city officials in contempt. They claim a substitute motion the council approved on June 10 revived business the court had barred. A hearing was set for June 18.
Repair estimates have ranged from an AECOM estimate of at least $329.4 million to roughly $1 billion for a full, long-term overhaul.
Two amendments from Mendelsohn regarding the new building site failed by the same 9–5 margin. One would have barred a new City Hall from any building older than the current one and the other required adjacent public space for the new site.
AN has followed the building’s status since last fall when the city first debated its exit from the building. City council first voted to explore leaving in March, and reported in April on speculation the site could be cleared for a new Dallas Mavericks arena. This spring, a public call for input on the future of Dallas City Hall received more than 400 submissions, including one by a studio at University of Texas at Arlington.
Following yesterday’s vote Dallas Mayor Eric L. Johnson said in a statement, “I trust that the City Council will again make the right decision by our taxpayers and choose a municipal headquarters that functions effectively for employees and serves residents at the high standard they deserve.”
He added, “In addition to being the most fiscally responsible decision, relocation presents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reimagine 1500 Marilla Street as something that unlocks new economic potential in Downtown Dallas.”