Volunteers began collecting signatures across Dallas this weekend in an effort to let voters, rather than the City Council, decide whether city government stays at 1500 Marilla St.
The Save Dallas City Hall Coalition filed its notice of intent with the city secretary on Friday, Oct. 2. The filing starts a 60-day window to collect about 20,000 signatures from registered Dallas voters. If the petition succeeds, a city charter amendment would go on the May 2027 ballot requiring the city to keep its main government operations in the I.M.
Pei-designed building, which opened in 1978.
Dallas County Commissioner Elba Garcia was among those who delivered the notice, along with former City Council members. Former Mayor Laura Miller and Liane Pei, the architect's daughter, have also backed the effort.
"People are tired of backroom deals and misplaced priorities," coalition attorney Chris Bowers said in a statement. The group says a poll it commissioned of 1,381 registered Dallas municipal voters found 84% wanted to keep the building.
How the fight got here
The debate grew out of years of deferred maintenance and disputed repair estimates. CandysDirt.com reported that one study priced the repairs near $329 million, and that a fuller estimate, which added the cost of moving staff out during the work, other upgrades and borrowing, came close to $1 billion. Preservation supporters say that larger figure overstates the cost of fixing the building.
In June, the council voted 9-6 to give City Manager Kimberly Tolbert authority to seek up to four letters of intent for other City Hall sites in the central business district, and to set aside a phased repair plan. No council briefing on alternative sites has been made public since, NBC 5 reported.
Council member Adam Bazaldua, one of the six who opposed that vote, said in September that there is "no plan. No site. No design. No honest price tag."
