Check out the National Trust Award for Preservation Dallas!
The Historic House Specialist seminar
is coming up!
December 8th, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Become an authority of historic Dallas neighborhoods! This popular seminar includes lectures from local experts on architectural history and styles of Dallas, historic and conservation district designations, sustainability, how to research the history of a building, and more! Participants receive a copy of Virginia McAlester’s A Field Guide to American Houses and a complimentary one year Individual membership to Preservation Dallas. This year we are going virtual with the seminar which will be one day only.

REGISTRATION:
The workshop is $230. The class is open for anyone to take, but realtors will receive 8 hours MCE credit. 

If you want to receive credit, log in to your MetroTex Association of REALTORS account to register online, or at 214-540-2751.

If you are not a realtor or taking the class for credit, register on our website.
National Trust for Historic Preservation Award
for Preservation Dallas
Preservation Dallas received a great honor from the National Trust for Historic Preservation last month with its selection as the winner of the 2020 Trustees’ Award for Organizational Excellence. The award was presented virtually at the National Preservation Awards Ceremony at the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s annual conference. Click on the video below to view Preservation Dallas’ award presentation and the virtual acceptance of the award by the Preservation Dallas Executive Director.

The award recognizes a nonprofit organization, large or small, that has demonstrated sustained and superlative achievement in historic preservation. According to the National Trust, Preservation Dallas "has been an inspiring champion for preservation across Dallas for nearly five decades" and "has successfully developed numerous innovative and effective preservation programs and advocacy campaigns." 
Virginia Savage McAlester Tribute
Since 1972, Preservation Dallas has worked to protect the history and culture of neighborhoods and areas throughout the community, enhancing the quality of live and economic development of our great city. Virginia was one of the founders of Preservation Dallas, then known as the Historic Preservation League, and over the years she led the way on advocacy and ground breaking preservation projects for the organization.

The Virginia Savage McAlester Tribute will honor her through the commission of art to be installed at the Aldridge House in the Swiss Avenue Historic District. Additional funds raised through the Tribute will go to fund programs and surveys in key historic neighborhoods and an educational fund for lectures and/or scholarships in historic preservation and neighborhood advocacy.
To date, we have raised 36% of funds needed to complete and install the public art in her honor. With your funding contribution, we will be able to recognize the outstanding efforts of Virginia Savage McAlester to advancing historic preservation in Dallas and across the nation. We thank you so much you for support with this project and look forward to celebrating with you when we unveil the Tribute in the spring of 2021!
Contributions can be made online or by mail. Contact Danelle Smith by email or at 214-821- 3290 with any questions! 
A special thank you to the following contributors to date
Clementine Adams & Virginia Adams
Ellen Amirkhan/Oriental Rug Cleaning Company
Bernbaum/Magadini Architects
Suzanne Bartolucci
Zaida Basora
Beth & Rick Bentley
Mary & Clifford Grum
Sandy Brothers & Mike Holub
John Brown
Roger L. Carroll
Karen Casey
Cal & Clare Buie Chaney
Steve Clique
Kyle Crews
Harryette Ehrhardt
Ross & Lois Finkelman
Friends of the Aldredge House
Wilson & Betty Fuqua
Monty Garretson
Ann Gaspari
Peggy L. Gould
Erin Granberry
Suzi & Jack Greenman
Elizabeth Gunby
Lynn Hamilton
RuLan Hebeler
Martha Heimberg
Katy Ehrhardt Henderson
Philip C. Henderson
Barry Henry
LaRue Howell Henry
Katherine Homan
Carl Hunermund & Kara Murphy
Debora Hunter
Alfredo & Margaret Jimenez
Paula Lambert
Gary Lawler
Julie Lowenberg
Suzy Lowry
Elizabeth Mast
Arch C. McColl, III
Judy McMillen
Linda Mitchell
Carol D. Morse
John & Anne Mullen
Alicia Quintans
Dan Patterson
Melissa Prycer
Skikha & Ganesh Raj
Ralph M. Randall
Linda Rayes
Carol Roark
Debby & Kevin Rogers
Lorie & Keith Routh
Belinda Senevey & Adele Malpert
Cynthia Scofield
Scovell Family Foundation
Nancy Shelton
SHM Architects
Danelle Smith
Suzanne Naomi Smith
Linda Solman
Mary Suhm
Summerlee Foundation
Amy Talkington & Robbie Adams
CM "Carty" Talkington
Olive Talley
Julie Travis
Lynn Vogt
WaaL.architecture
Joan & Alan Walne
Mike Warren
Chad West
Shirley Whitfield
Holiday Party Cancelled This Year
We are sad to announce that we have cancelled our annual Holiday Party this year due to COVID-19. It is unfortunate that we won't be able to gather at the Wilson House with our preservation friends to celebrate the holiday season and enjoy food, drink, music and socializing! We felt cancelling was the prudent thing to do right now with the pandemic. We look forward to when we can once again open up the Wilson House for events!
Has your online research hit a brick wall?
Have you done all the research you can online and now need to access information housed at the library but the physical building is closed? The Dallas History & Archives Division, located the seventh floor of the main branch of the Dallas Public Library, offers virtual research at this time. Email them with the information on what you are researching and they will look up information for you!
PRESERVATION ISSUES
City Tax Incentives Thanks to everyone who voiced their support to Council Members for the continuation of the Historic Preservation Tax Abatement Program! Thankfully the City Council voted this month to extend the program for another five years. The program has been around since 1993 and has been extremely beneficial in encouraging investment in historic properties across the city. Over the years it has helped revitalize and maintain historic structures and encourage investment in historic properties.

Historic Preservation Code Amendments – Preservation Dallas held a workshop in partnership with the Office of Historic Preservation on November 7 to discuss no cost solutions to help streamline the Certificate of Appropriateness review process and to discuss potential amendments to the City Code. Over 30 people attended the workshop and brought up concerns, made comments and offered potential solutions. This month at the City Plan Commission meeting, the Commission authorized a hearing on the matter and sent it to the Landmark Commission for them to study and determine language for the potential amendments.

DISD Bond - During the general election this month a portion of the school bond propositions passed, including the one to demolish and replace 14 historic schools. Preservation Dallas and AIA Dallas have been working together on the issue to get meetings with new DISD staff to discuss possible alternatives to the demolition of all of those schools.

Longhorn Ballroom - This important historic structure sold this month at auction. There is no word on what the new owners are intending to do with the property, which is not a City of Dallas Landmark. The building does qualify for Phase II of the Demolition Delay process if the owners request to demolish it since it is listed on the Hardy-Heck-Moore Survey as a High Priority. That means a 45-day extended delay period would be placed on any demolition application, and a public meeting with stakeholders and interested parties would be required shortly after Phase II is initiated.
Director's Letter
David Preziosi
Congratulations to all of the Preservation Achievement Award winners this year! And, a big thanks to all of the wonderful sponsors this year who helped make the Awards event possible. We couldn't have done it without them! This year we gave out 20 awards in addition to honoring the Park and Recreation Department for their amazing work in preserving historic parks across the city and their numerous historic features. I am so glad that we were able to present the awards after having to postpone them from May, even if was in a virtual format. There were so many incredible award winning projects this year and so many wonderful people who received special recognition awards. It was a shame that we were not able to recognize all of that great work in person and to celebrate afterwards, but virtual is how we have to do things right now. Nevertheless, it was absolutely inspiring to see the award winning work and the incredible effort the winners have put into their projects. These aren’t just projects though, they are labors of love and it shows with the care that was taken by the owners to preserve their historic piece of Dallas. And who doesn’t love a great before and after! I thank them for all their incredibly hard work, blood, sweat and tears put into preserving the city’s historic places for the future.

Speaking of amazing preservation projects, last week I was able to attend a socially distanced ribbon cutting ceremony for the Hall of State. The restoration work to the building is absolutely incredible! A great thanks goes out to all of the citizens of Dallas who voted for the bond which funded the extraordinary work. Years of grime and tarnish have been expertly removed to reveal an incredibly glowing building that looks as it did in 1936. The colors are vibrant again, the stone a gleaming white, the peeling paint and rust gone, and the metal work restored to its original color. With the work you can see so many wonderful details that you couldn't before. The biggest surprise for me are the fountains attached to the Hall of State which were uncovered in the restoration and are working once again. At some point they had been filled in with dirt and plants obscuring such an incredible feature. The Hall of Heroes ceiling is once again pristine with years of water damaged plaster repaired and the vibrant colors restored. The plaza out front of the building has also been restored with the removal of the exposed aggregate concrete installed in the 1980s and installation of a tinted concrete similar to what was used in 1936. You wouldn't think it would make a big difference, but it does. The project is absolutely amazing and I encourage everyone to go see it for themselves as the photos below don’t do it justice. And who knows, the project may win a Preservation Achievement Award next year!

I hope that everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving next week! I am taking off the whole week to catch up on some work around the house, because you know there is always something to work on with a historic house! I enjoy the work and take pride in the fact that like all of the award winners this year and in past years, I am working to preserve my own special piece of Dallas history!
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!
Please Welcome our New Members!
Individual
Casey Cossey Ruegg
Amy Dugan
Scott Hall
Lydia McCutchen
Jennifer Royall
Celia Saunders

Young Professionals
Brooke Bennett
Thank you to the following members for renewing!
Reid Barnhart
Andrea C Bell
Catherine E Blair
Bess Dickson
Craig Eggleston
Ayanna Estelle
Michelle Honeycutt
Megan Horan
Tom & Patty Hussey
Ann Keen
Vicki King
Kevin McLaren
Teann Nash
Kerri Olsen
Jennifer Timpson-Clark
Joan Walne
Robert E Wedding
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 & Doris R Dealey
Family Foundation
Funding has been provided to Preservation Dallas from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) as part of the 2020 Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act of 2020.
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed by Preservation Dallas does not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Preservation Dallas | 2922 Swiss Avenue | Dallas TX 752518