Don't forget to join us for the Preservation Dallas Annual Meeting on Monday, June 26, at Arts Mission Oak Cliff! This meeting is for members only and will be held in the  former Winnetka Congregational Church at 410 South Windomere designed by architect T.J. Galbraith. The 1929 church has been rehabilitated for use as an arts educational space. 

Reservations are required for this complimentary event and beverages will be provided. Thank you to Arts Mission Oak Cliff for hosting the meeting in their new space! Click here to make a reservation. 

McCree and McAdams Cemeteries - At the Landmark Commission meeting this month both cemeteries were recommended by the Landmark Commission for Landmark Designation. With the recommendation, the cases will now move forward to the City Plan Commission for consideration. Preservation Dallas has been working on McCree Cemetery for a couple of years now researching its history, mapping the grave sites, and maintaining it through a grant from the B.B. Owen Trust. A report on the cemetery prepared for Preservation Dallas by Versar through the grant will be released this summer.  

DART D2 - On June 21 there will be two public meetings on the progress DART has made on the proposed D2 subway line through downtown Dallas. At the meetings the  remaining D2 Subway alternatives will be discussed  along with k ey issues and opportunities along the remaining routes and route preference and key considerations for Dallas Streetcar expansion in downtown Dallas. The meetings will be held at the downtown Sheraton  at 11:30 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. For more information on the meeting click here . 

Our celebration of National Preservation this year built upon the success we had last year with numerous new programs and events throughout the month. Once again we worked together with our partners to celebrate preservation with twelve different activities during the month ranging from panels, tours, a scavenger hunt, and ending with a big awards celebration at The Statler where the President and CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Stephanie Meeks, gave the keynote. After the Awards she told me how impressed she was with the organization of the event, the people she spoke with and the projects which received awards.  This year our National   Preservation  Month partners included: City of Dallas, Dallas Architecture Forum, Dallas Center for Architecture, Dallas Heritage Village, Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture, Dallas History and Archives Division of the Dallas Public Library, Greater Dallas Planning Council, Old Red Museum of Dallas County History and Culture, and the Swiss Avenue Historic District. It was very impressive to see such a wide range of people at the events, including many new folks not associated with Preservation Dallas. There were over 1,100 people that attended the events, not counting the Swiss Avenue Home Tour. That is an increase from last year and so wonderful to see so many people enjoying the preservation activities during the month! Below are just a couple of events during the month.

Scavenger hunt at the Dallas Heritage Village.

Tour of City Hall, including the City Archives above.

Last week I made my annual pilgrimage to Washington DC to help the National Trust for Historic Preservation with lobbying for the Historic Tax Credit. The credit is one of the most important tools out there to help with the revitalization of income producing properties and has been crucial to the revitalization of downtown Dallas. It also means jobs and investment in Dallas to the tune of over $1 billion since 1999. Dallas is also the largest user of the tax credit in the state and has the largest tax credit project in Texas with the Statler at $175 million. The National Trust is looking to improve the flexibility of the credit and make it available for more historic properties with the introduction of the Historic Tax Credit Improvement Act which has been introduced in the House and the Senate. While in DC I made visits with two other folks from Texas to eight offices and spoke with them about the Historic Tax Credit and asked them to sign on to the bill. It was a great opportunity to visit with staff in the congressional offices to let them know how important preservation and the tax credits are to cities across Texas. 

Tuesday | June 20 | 6:30-8:30 p.m. | 410 South Windomere

With the development pressure that Oak Cliff is facing Preservation Dallas and the Old Oak Cliff Conservation League will be holding a Preservation Town Hall to discuss the issues of working to save the historic places of Oak Cliff.  A panel will discuss the issues followed by an opportunity to hear from the public about this issue.  For more information click here.