Stay safe and stay well!
2020 Preservation Achievement Awards Postponed
Due to the uncertainty of COVID-19 and when people can gather again in groups, it has been decided to postpone the 2020 Preservation Achievement Awards. We are currently looking at dates in late August or September for the event and when one is selected it will be announced.

We have some incredible projects receiving awards this year  including: 710 Dumas, The Gaston, Lobello House, Green House, Marcus House, 211 N. Rosemont Avenue, Mayor Sergeant House, Bella Villa Apartments, Bowlski’s - Lakewood Theater, Eagle Ford School, Samuell Grand Regional Family Aquatics Center, Sharrock Niblo Barn, Tyler Station, the UNT Dallas College of Law – Old Municipal Building, and the new Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum. The Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum Boxcar project will receive the prestigious Gail Thoma Patterson Award for an outstanding restoration of a historic resource.

A special tribute will also be given to the City of Dallas Park & Recreation Department as the 2020 Honoree recognizing all that they have done to preserve Dallas’ historic parks and historic features in the parks. The Department has received the most Preservation Achievement Honor Awards of any organization in the city and we applaud them for their stellar projects.

In addition, special recognition awards for contributions to historic preservation will be presented including the City of Dallas Archives receiving the Craftsmanship Award, Carolyn Brown and the Tenth Street Neighborhood Residential Organization each receiving a Spirit of Preservation Award, and the Education Award going to the Finding Little Egypt Project.
During this unprecedented time, Preservation Dallas is working daily to navigate our new normal like all of you and to keep the organization running. In this time of uncertainty and reduced giving we could use your help to continue our mission.

To put it simply, we need you.

Through May 5th, if you are able, please consider giving to Preservation Dallas through North Texas Giving Tuesday Now . Due to the generosity of the Communities Foundation, United Way, and the Dallas Cowboys gifts will also go further.

How you can help:

  • GIVE TODAY! You can even continue to make additional gifts to Preservation Dallas or our partner non-profits for the next two weeks until May 5th.
  • SPREAD THE WORD! Share our page via email, social media and text using the hashtag #NTXGivingTuesdayNow.


We thank you for your support, wish you good health and extend our heartfelt appreciation to all of those who are working tirelessly on the front line during these trying times.
Virginia Savage McAlester: A True Preservation Hero
Virginia Savage McAlester’s lifelong passion for historic preservation and her incredible advocacy work has had a tremendous impact on Dallas and what has been protected and preserved to this day. Her reach also extended beyond Dallas with her research and books on historic residential architecture that have built a solid foundation for the understanding and appreciation of historic homes - a critical first step in their preservation.

Virginia’s activism began in 1971 when her Swiss Avenue neighborhood, then full of grand but decaying revival homes, was threatened with rezoning for high-rise apartments in an area red-lined by lenders. At that time Dallas had no historic districts or a preservation program. Virginia led an effort to pass the city’s first preservation ordinance and to create the first two local historic districts, one Swiss Avenue and the other the West End. She was one of the founders of the Historic Preservation League, now Preservation Dallas, in 1972. Realizing that other parts of Old East Dallas had 90% absentee-ownership and 30% of its houses red-tagged for demolition by the city, she took action. With the guidance of the National Trust she organized and managed a revolving fund for the League and oversaw purchase, protection and resale of 26 houses. The fund worked with the Federal National Mortgage Association to develop the agency’s first inner-city loan program which became a national model and opened Fannie Mae lending to older neighborhoods nationwide through the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977.

Not to rest on her laurels, Virginia took on the task in the mid-1980s of advocating for Fair Park, which at the time was quite neglected. She was a founder of Friends of Fair Park and during the 12 years she served on the board, the group gained National Historic Landmark status for Fair Park and raised $100 million in funds for restoration work. That effort won a 2003 National Trust award. Her extraordinary decades long work with Fair Park earned her the “Spirit of the Centennial Award” in 2017 from the Friends of Fair Park, their highest honor for lifetime achievement.

As a founder of Preservation Dallas Virginia always remained heavily involved in the organization and in 1995 raised $575,000 to create the Intown Living Center as a way to interest people in moving to older Dallas neighborhoods. She chaired the program and its success led her to embark on yet another Preservation Dallas initiative - the Discover Dallas program from 2001-2004. She chaired the program which trained hundreds of volunteers to research and document historic structures in neighborhoods across the city, many of which are now conservation districts.

Virginia’s books have undoubtedly made the broadest impact on preservation nationally. Especially A Field Guide to American Houses, which evolved from the need for a comprehensive guide to historic residential architecture typology when surveying her Swiss Avenue neighborhood for historic district status. Virginia spent six years researching and writing the original book, which has been in continuous print with a revision in 2013. It has been the standard for the identification and evaluation of styles for historic architecture nationwide and used by students, architects, consultants, and admirers of historic architecture. The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians in1986 proclaimed it “The best field guide to American residential architecture that has ever been published.” 

The City of Dallas owes a great debt to Virginia for her incredible work to save the historic architecture and neighborhoods that define Dallas. The city would be far different if it weren’t for her tireless efforts to save its historic architecture from small vernacular house to the grand revival homes. In 2004, Preservation Dallas recognized Virginia with its highest honor, the Dorothy Savage Award, of course named after her mother, another tireless advocate for preservation. Her work has also been recognized by the local, state and now the national chapter of the AIA when she received a 2017 AIA Honor Award.

Virginia has left an indelible mark on Dallas and the country with her passion and dedication to helping preserve the historic places that make our communities so special. She will truly be missed and her legacy is immense with the lessons she taught us about advocating for historic places and the tools she has given us to preserve the places that are special to all of us. 
Advanced Historic House Specialist Seminar Update
Because the Wilson House is closed until further notice, our ever popular Advanced Historic House Specialist seminar cannot be held as usual. Instead we will hold the seminar virtually in late May. While realtors have the option to receive continuing credit for the class, it is open to anyone interested in furthering their knowledge of historic preservation. Once the date has been approved by the registration entity, we will post details our website!
Nominations for 2020 Most Endangered List Due May 29
Do you know of a threatened or endangered historic place in Dallas? If so, nominate it for the 2020 list of the Most Endangered Historic Places. Click the button below to download a nomination form. Nominations will be accepted until Friday, May 29. The new list of Most Endangered Places in Dallas will be announced at the Preservation Dallas Annual Meeting in June.
Legacies Dallas History Conference Call for Proposals
The organizers of the 22 nd Annual Legacies Dallas History Conference welcome proposals from both professional and lay historians on topics related to the theme: “Law and Disorder in Dallas Revisited.”

Throughout its history, Dallas has experienced periods when outlaws, criminals, and even protests for change presented special challenges to the forces of order, such as:
  • The 1870s, when the coming of the railroads turned Dallas into a boomtown which brought a huge increase in saloons, gambling, and related crimes associated with those vices.
  • The early 1900s saw concern over red-light districts, with prostitution and drugs.
  • The 1920s were the era of bootleg whiskey and the KKK, while the 1930s saw Bonnie and Clyde grab the headlines.
  • Organized crime, including gambling, flourished for a time in the 1940s.
  • In the post-World War II era, civil rights protests pushed for an end to racial segregation of African Americans, fair treatment for Mexican Americans, and equality for the LGBT community.

Papers presented at the conference may focus on topics related to crime, law enforcement, legal proceedings, protests and might examine an incident, an individual or a group.

All papers must be based on original research and must not have been presented or published elsewhere. The best papers will be published in a subsequent issue of Legacies: A History Journal for Dallas and North Central Texas . Those interested in presenting papers should submit a brief summary of their proposal by JULY 31, 2020, to “Dallas History Conference, 1515 S. Harwood St., Dallas, TX 75215,” or by email to LegaciesDHC@gmail.com . Those selected will be notified by August 31, 2020.
Corporate Partner Highlight
McCoy Collaborative Preservation Architecture provides full architectural services with a specialization in the restoration, adaptive us and architectural conservation of historic buildings. Established in 2007, partners Nancy McCoy and Greg Johnston with senior associates Andreea Hamilton and Justin Curtsinger lead a multi-disciplinary practice in preservation architecture includes architects and designers, architectural conservators, material scientists, historians and sustainability specialists collaborating with other specialized consultants. McCoy Collaborative approaches the preservation of sites and buildings as conservators of the built environment, maintaining as much historic fabric as possible, while providing excellence in both technical and design solutions that meet an owner’s goals for the building’s long-term continued use. 

The firm is proud of its active involvement with the Board of Trustees of Preservation Dallas as long term corporate sponsors, with the Education and Preservation Issues Committees, and their roles as volunteers working toward the common goal of preserving Dallas’ heritage. Their work has included some of Dallas’ most iconic buildings and people including:

  • Fair Park’s Esplanade and Parry Avenue Gate restoration
  • Hall of State improvements
  • Caruth Homeplace adaptive use
  • Majestic Theater improvements
  • Charles Dilbeck-designed Underwood home designation
  • Juanita Craft Home Historic Structures Report
  • Ebby Halliday documentation
  • Aldredge House Historic Structures Report
  • Preservation planning for Dallas’ historic parks
  • Sharrock Niblo log structures restoration and stabilization
  • Old Red Courthouse roof and planning studies
  • School Book Depository Building exterior restoration plan
  • Forest Theater adaptive use
For more information on McCoy Colloborative, click here .
PRESERVATION ISSUES
Landmark Commission – The Landmark Commission meeting for April was cancelled and the City has decided to hold the May meeting virtually.

Kalita Humphreys Theater – The Dallas Theater Center has put the process for updating the Master Plan on hold for now due to the restrictions on gathering for public meetings and the inability of the NY consulting firm of Diller Scofidio + Renfro to travel to Texas.

Historic Resources Survey – Next month the City Council will approve the consulting firm for the downtown survey project at their May 13 Council meeting. They will also be approving a Memorandum of Understanding with Preservation Dallas for the transfer of the $95,000 that was raised for the project by Preservation Dallas to match the City's $100,000 in the their budget for the project.
Director's Letter
David Preziosi
I’m writing my letter this month from the new Oak Cliff branch of Preservation Dallas, better known as my house! It certainly has been challenging working remotely and keeping up with the daily work of PD. Moving the office operations out of the office has not been easy, especially trying to handle office operational tasks like paying bills and accessing files. My home office has been taken over with boxes of files from the office in case I need quick access to paper files on the many projects and issues we are working on. Both Irene and I can access our computers remotely to retrieve electronic files and to keep up with email which is very helpful. Now that we can’t hold meetings in person we have gotten a Zoom account for PD so we can continue to have board and committee meetings virtually.
 
Normally at this time of year I would be writing about all of the wonderful events we have coming up for the spring and National Preservation Month in May. Obviously we have had to cancel or postpone our planned events for this spring with the current situation. So, we are looking at other ways to hold events, such as the virtual Advanced Historic House Specialist class we are planning. Even though we have postponed the Awards event we are still working on it as there is much to do to prepare for the event. We are not sure yet what will happen with Summer Sizzlers and hope that we will be able to gather again by the time that is ready to start so that we don't have to delay the series.
 
The work on the web site upgrade is continuing with our consultant. We have completed the site map and the consultant is starting work on the new graphic design and functionality of the site. After that we will migrate the information over to it from the current site. With the new site we are also trying to build in easier functionality to keep it updated as both Irene and I do that in house. We are also working on better integration with our membership database and simplifying event posting and registration.
 
Our fiscal year ends in June and with that have to elect new members to the Board of Trustees. The Board Development Committee has been meeting virtually to work on the nominations to fill the board spots that are opening up and they have some excellent candidates to be nominated. The Committee is also working on the slate for the Executive Committee. I am hoping that we will be able to hold the Annual Meeting in person in the end of June; however, if we can’t we will have to do a virtual annual meeting as our by-laws require us to hold the meeting before the end of the fiscal year to elect new board members.
 
I have also been keeping up with advocacy issues and monitoring those in progress, like the Kalita and DART D2. With construction considered an essential business there is still development going on that could impact historic resources. Speaking of development pressure, we are now accepting nominations for our 2020 Most Endangered Historic Places list to announce at the Annual Meeting. If you know of a site that you think should be on the list, please submit it using the nomination form . I have also been working with the Tenth Street Residential Organization (TSRO) helping them with a grant application they are submitting to the National Trust for Historic Preservation - African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund. TSRO is looking to hire an Executive Director for two years with the grant money to help grow the organization and coordinate efforts to preserve and revitalize the historic Tenth Street neighborhood and historic district.

I hope that everyone is staying safe and surviving the new way of life at home all day. Hopefully things will improve very soon so that we can get back to a more normal way of life. Hang in there everyone and we hope to see you soon when we can once again meet and celebrate the power of historic preservation!
EVENTS
All in-person events have been postponed until restrictions on meeting in groups is lifted.
Support Preservation Dallas While Shopping!
Did you know that when you shop at AmazonSmile, they donate to Preservation Dallas? Click on the logo above to get started!
Preservation Dallas participates in the Tom Thumb Good Neighbor program. Link our Good Neighbor number to your Tom Thumb loyalty card and a percentage of your purchases will be credited towards us! Our number is 11352. Enroll your card here!
Preservation Dallas participates in the Kroger Community Rewards program. Enroll your Kroger Plus card with Preservation Dallas as the benefactor. Our number is TX617. Enroll your card here!
It goes without saying that this is an unprecedented time and we know that many have been hit with financial hardships as a result of the mandated quarantine. Our members are important to us. That is why we are extending the memberships of those who expired in March and April as well as those that are expected to expire in May for another two more months. In addition, we are offering a 20% discount to everyone to either extend their existing membership early or to join as a new member. This offer is valid from now until the end of May. Renewals will start after the current membership expires. Simply use the code spring2020 when prompted on the website.
Please Welcome our New Members!
Individual
James Adams
Nancy Baldwin
Prime Blankenship
James Garrett
Eugene Gonzalez
Chloe Hancock
Susan Johnson
Malina Pearson
William Pillsbury
Connie Reyes
Dena Smith
Sean Warren
Jane Wedding

Young Professionals
Ashley Rucker

Urban Armadillos
Masen Stamp
Thank you to the following members for renewing!
Patrick & Thomas Boyd-Lloyd
Mollie Hancock
Travis Horton
Carol Hunermund
David Preziosi
Joshua & Jennifer Rice
David Rolston
Vinnie Sherman
Don Thompson
Michelle Walker
This newsletter is sent to all current and past members, and those interested in preservation in Dallas. To become a member or to renew or upgrade your membership, please click below.
CORPORATE PARTNERS
Joe M. and Doris R. Dealey Family Foundation
Preservation Dallas | 2922 Swiss Avenue | Dallas TX 752518