Preservation
Dallas is one of the most respected preservation organizations
in the country. With nearly forty years of experience, our success
and longevity is due to our strong advocacy efforts, successful
educational programs, and technical expertise. This year we continue
to offer our same great programs, and are even implementing a
few new ones.
We are also ramping up our advocacy work, meeting
with local decision–makers, professionals in the field,
and historic property owners on historic preservation issues.
And, as you will read in this issue, we also have been busy lending
our professional expertise to protect our city’s most endangered
resources.
Over the past few months, Preservation Dallas worked
with other members of the Form–Based Advisory Committee
to draft language for the newly proposed zoning tool. Dallas City
Council will vote this fall to adopt the Advisory committee’s
Compromise version.
Our Preservation Issues Committee continues to help
save and revitalize buildings and neighborhoods listed on our
11 Most Endangered List. Those endangered resources that have
been saved include the Parks Estate (listed in 2004) and the Nurses
Home at Old Parkland Hospital (listed in 2006). Positive efforts
on the historic Caruth Homestead (listed in 2007) and Criswell
College Library (listed in 2007) are also underway, a testament
to renewed interest in their stewardship.
We continue to provide assistance to the Tenth Street
Historic District (listed in 2008), Deep Ellum (listed in 2006,
2007 and 2008), and the Statler Hilton Hotel (listed in 2008).
Two new committees have been formed to deal with the specific
issues regarding the challenges to redeveloping these sites. We
also are working with Councilmember Carolyn Davis to make positive
changes in Dallas’ oldest existing Freedman’s Town,
the Tenth Street Historic District.
Later this month, Preservation Dallas will launch
a new program for accepting preservation easements. A preservation
easement, or legal agreement between a property owner and easement
holder, will soon be offered to owners wishing to protect their
historically and/or architecturally significant resource in the
long term. More information about this program will be available
on our website.
As a means to broaden our base of support, we are
partnering with other like organizations on several new initiatives,
such as a joint tour with the North Texas chapter of DOCOMOMO.
I hope you will join us as we tour Mid–Century Modern religious
structures on October 4.
As always, we are aggressively pursuing the identification
and protection of the city’s precious historic resources.
These resources give context and identity to our citizens and
its visitors, and are an important reflection of who we are. We
thank our committed staff, our talented board of directors, and
our many members for our successes.
Katherine D. Seale
Executive Director
