City Leaders Prompted Into Action Over Downtown Demolitions
DALLAS (CBS 11 NEWS) - The sudden demolition of century-old buildings in Dallas is prompting city leaders to take action. While a number of historic properties have recently fell victim to the wrecking ball, some residents have set out to protect other properties from the same fate.
There's plenty of shiny and new in the city, but in the downtown Dallas core there's more history than you might imagine. But as it stands, there's very little protection in place to keep buildings from being reduced to rubble again.
The teardown of 1611 Main Street and two connecting buildings caught many people in the neighborhood off guard. "It really hurts looking and seeing a 129-year-old building disappear, just in a weekend," said Adrian Bustos.
Bustos used to live in the lofts that occupied 1611 Main Street. He now owns the store next door, a pet care business specializing in grooming, natural food and dog walking services. He says redevelopment over the last three years has been good for Downtown Pawz.
"It's a better vibe than what it used to be. It's not so dead."
But neither Bustos, preservationists, or some city leaders expected the demolition that happened last weekend. A developer, Headington, had a demolition permit pulled last Friday, and began the work on Sunday. The new 1611 Main will be home to high-end retail.
Like many of the buildings that were constructed during Dallas's building boom at the turn of the 20th century, this one was not protected from change.
"I think there was quite a unique opportunity missed to do some really cool restoration and rehabilitation on the interior. To make it work for what they wanted to do," said David Preziosi, with Preservation Dallas.
Dallas City Councilman Philip Kingston, whose district includes downtown, says the demolition is a wake-up call. Even if a building is a contributing structure to the National Register of Historic Places, it needs a local landmark designation to prevent demolition.
"It's a wake-up call for needing to look into the future and make sure we still have our architectural history in place," Kingston said.
Kingston has asked the city attorney to give him proposed language for a moratorium on downtown demolition, until people can examine the implications of protecting these buildings. He'd like to have the language ready for the October 8 council meeting.
Kingston said, "There's a lot left to protect. People aren't aware of these buildings because they're not big and flashy, but there's a lot left."
Accordint to Kingston, Preservation Dallas and Downtown Dallas, Inc. are planning a town hall meeting, so stakeholders can come to the table to be heard.
Calls made by CBS 11 News to Headington for comment on this story were not returned.
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