Preservation Dallas turns 50 this year, which is quite an accomplishment for an organization that started out as a small volunteer run nonprofit. We have certainly grown since then and have accomplished many great successes when it comes to preservation. We have also unfortunately lost some battles over the years, which is par for the course in a city so focused on development. Preservation has come a long way in Dallas since 1972, especially considering at the time there were no historic districts and now there are twenty-one historic districts, seventeen conservation districts, and over 130 individual landmarks in the city. That was accomplished by the hard work and dedication of board members, staff, and most importantly you, our Preservation Dallas members who supported those efforts and Preservation Dallas!

To celebrate our 50 years of preservation work in Dallas, we are introducing a special logo for the year as you can see above. The striking logo boldly shows that we have been working to preserve the historic places of Dallas for the past 50 years and the slanted 5 shows the forward movement of the organization into our next 50 years.

Throughout the year we will have numerous events and promotions to celebrate 50 years of advocating for and celebrating Dallas' historic places. The keystone event of the year will be the 2022 Preservation Achievement Awards and 50th Anniversary Celebration at The National on May 19. It will be an incredible celebration of the power of preservation in Dallas in the past 50 years that you won't want to miss!

Before we start off our 50th year, we need to go back to the beginning and how we began as an organization. In September of 1972, a small group of citizens from East Dallas were concerned about the need to formally protect and preserve our city’s historic buildings. They successfully fought to save Swiss Avenue from upzoning for mid-rise multifamily development. From that effort they decided to form the Historic Preservation League (later to be renamed Preservation Dallas) as a volunteer-run nonprofit organization with a broad mission to preserve and revitalize Dallas’ buildings, neighborhoods and other historical, architectural and cultural resources. The video below beautifully tells the story about the founding of the Historic Preservation League. It was prepared by Steve Clicque for the 2015 Preservation Achievement Awards when the Founders were recognized with the Dorothy Savage Award for their incredible efforts.

Starting in the February newsletter, we will go through highlights of our work each decade. So, stay tuned for more about Preservation Dallas' efforts to save the historic places of Dallas and our accomplishments in the past 50 years!

Kalita Humphreys Theater - Work has started back up on the update of the Masterplan for the Kalita Humphreys Theater and site. The process started in the beginning of 2020 and had to be put on hold with the pandemic. Now things are gearing back up and the New York architecture firm of Diller Scofidio+Renfro have started the process again. Harboe Architects of Chicago was hired as the preservation architect for the update due to their extensive experience working on Frank Lloyd Wright buildings. Representatives from Preservation Dallas meet last week with representatives from the firms above, Dallas Theater Center and Duncan Fulton of GFF to discuss the preservation of the theater and the process moving forward. The plan is to restore the theater as closely as possible to its 1959 period of significance when it opened. The update to the masterplan for the site and theater is to be completed by the end of the year. There will be presentations later in the spring to gather public input for the plan.

Oak Cliff UMC - The former church located at the intersection of Jefferson and Marsalis partially burned this week. The building has been vacant for quite a while and Demolition by Neglect proceedings were started by the Landmark Commission in an attempt to get the property owner to stabilize and protect the building. Murray Miller, the head of the Office of Historic Preservation, has a meeting next week with the owners, which was scheduled before the fire. Read more about the fire and damage here.

Deep Ellum – Preservation Dallas has been working with the Deep Ellum Foundation towards National Register of Historic Places Historic District status for Deep Ellum. Preservation Dallas has engaged HHM, the consulting firm working on the downtown and Deep Ellum survey, to put together a Determination of Eligibility (DOE) for the National Register of Historic Places Historic District status as part of the process. The DOE will be submitted to the Texas Historical Commission by the end of this month for review and if they concur that Deep Ellum is eligible as a Historic District the process can continue forward and would take about a year.