Dallas is finally getting The Vision! We now have an Office of Historic Preservation at the City of Dallas and that is encouraging for so many reasons.
I’m excited because adaptive reuse is bound to become a more prominent reason to save our historic buildings. Preserving iconic Dallas buildings like The Statler Hotel, The Old Dallas High School, and The Knight’s of Pythias Temple has been an uphill battle, but these buildings help define Dallas.
Historic Preservation has never been more important and this is absolutely thrilling news that our city is finally on board in a big way.
“The historic preservation program in Dallas has been around for nearly 50 years and this new Vision will look at historic preservation within the City of Dallas framework and how it can be taken to the next level, ” Preservation Dallas Executive Director David Prezozi said. “Recently, the historic preservation program has evolved into its own entity as the Office of Historic Preservation, giving the program a larger role in affecting change within the City of Dallas when it comes to historic preservation. The upcoming public meetings will present the newly created Vision and how the Office of Historic Preservation is planning to expand historic preservation’s role within Dallas and develop strategic responses to the current challenges we are facing as a city. “
A Vision of Historic Preservation
In 2019, the City of Dallas created the Office of Historic Preservation under the umbrella of Economic Development & Neighborhood Services. With that, the office is looking to expand the sphere of influence within which historic preservation has traditionally operated in the city. In that effort, they have created The Vision: Keeping an Eye on Historic Preservation in Dallas.
With strategic responses to the economic challenges presented by COVID-19, this Vision aims to reach out to partners, stakeholders, decision-makers, and the community—to identify and encourage activities that showcase the purpose of historic preservation while achieving other important city objectives.
The Vision’s key drivers underscore the importance of efficiency, relevancy ,and balance in advancing the “shift in thinking” towards a robust historic preservation program in the city.
The office of Historic Preservation will be presenting the Vision to the public during virtual meetings on September 2 and 9. The same information will be presented at each meeting.
The Vision has been a long time coming but it’s finally here and I encourage you all to participate in one of these meetings.
IF YOU GO:
Find out more about how to attend the virtual meetings here, or by contacting Dallas City Hall here.
