Rawlings says Dallas should focus more on redeveloping the site, possibly for an entertainment district capable of keeping the Mavericks and Stars downtown.
By Devyani Chhetri
Staff Writer
Dallas Morning News
Credit: Tom Fox/Staff Photographer
Former Mayor Mike Rawlings is ramping up the fight over City Hall as questions grow over how to reshape downtown Dallas.
Rawlings launched a coordinated campaign Thursday to build support for relocating City Hall, using newspaper and social media ads, a website and other outreach to promote redevelopment there, possibly for a sports arena and entertainment district.
In an interview with The Dallas Morning News, Rawlings said his efforts are designed to shift the City Council beyond wrangling over repair estimates and focus instead on how best to use the site as a catalyst to attract new business and reinvigorate its southern edge.
“My fear about downtown is we’re thinking too small,” he said. “We’ve got to have a force to change this.”
The campaign marks an escalation in the increasingly high-stakes fight over City Hall’s future. It’s been a clash of competing visions, centered on whether the council should invest in costly updates to the building or move government operations and pursue a different use for that large swath of land as the Dallas Mavericks look for a new home.
The council is expected to make that consequential choice in June after city staffers present a cost comparison of staying or leaving. Previous votes have indicated the mayor and eight council members support exploring relocation, while six members are opposed.
Consultants earlier this year estimated repairs at $329 million and a full modernization at $1 billion over two decades.
City Hall backers say figures are inflated, and a former facilities and engineering assistant director who is aligned with a prominent architects group pegged repairs at $70 million to $100 million over 10 years. That group also says Dallas should not surrender a prominent civic landmark to accommodate sports and business interests.
Rawlings acknowledged those concerns but said Dallas, instead of fixating on repairs to the nearly 50-year-old building, should instead weigh the site’s larger value.
Keeping the teams
He said moving City Hall could clear the way for a major entertainment district that keeps the Mavericks and Stars downtown while expanding the city’s tax base.
“Dallas can pour up to a billion dollars into patching a building that will never meet a modern city’s needs, or it can put those dollars to work rebuilding the downtown core,” the new Say Yes to Downtown website states.
The website and newspaper ads also say:
• City Hall’s core systems are failing and “beyond lifespan,” and the I.M. Pei-designed building is outdated, inefficient and damaging to customer service for residents.
• Renovating the building at 1500 Marilla St. would cost “hundreds of millions” more than relocating city employees into a downtown office tower, leaving taxpayers to absorb maintenance and operating costs for decades.
• The area near the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center “is where Dallas’ next arena belongs,” giving Dallas a chance to keep the Mavericks and Stars and energizing downtown activity and investment.
Dallas has done this before, he said, pointing to the American Airlines Center and Victory Park, whose value jumped to $2.5 billion from $16 million. “Let’s play that again,” he said.
Civic boost
Rawlings said the campaign is meant to mobilize residents, business owners and civic advocates who believe Dallas should take a bolder approach to downtown.
“This is bigger than basketball,” he said. “Our city manager is putting together a budget right now, and in that budget, she has got to determine whether we’re going to put maintenance in for City Hall. That is a big pivot point on a lot of fronts.”
Rawlings is personally funding the campaign and business leaders Tré Black, Bruce Orr and Amanda Moreno-Lake have joined him to help drive a stronger civic push behind downtown. He said the campaign was put together after he heard complaints from others that “the narrative was taken away from how citizens really feel in the city.”
Rawlings also said he wants to show support for Mayor Eric Johnson and eight council members who backed relocation discussions.
“Somebody needs to say thank you to them publicly” for having “the courage to stand up for the taxpayers,” he said.
Dallas City Hall Reporter
Devyani Chhetri covers Dallas City Hall. Before joining the Dallas Morning News, she covered South Carolina politics and presidential primaries. She went to Boston University for graduate school.
This story, originally published in The Dallas Morning News, is reprinted as part of a collaborative partnership between The Dallas Morning News and Texas Metro News. The partnership seeks to boost coverage of Dallas’ communities of color, particularly in southern Dallas.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login