Liane Pei, daughter of Dallas City Hall architect I.M. Pei, speaks at a press conference announcing the intent to bring a City Charter amendment vote to the May 2027 ballot. Photo by Victoria Hernandez.
The Save Dallas City Hall Coalition is working to bring a City Charter amendment to the ballot next May.
On Sept. 24, the coalition held a press conference at City Hall Plaza to announce plans to launch a petition drive in support of saving the 48-year-old building designed by architect I.M. Pei. The Dallas City Hall debate has come through the horseshoe on several occasions over the last year, with the council questioning whether to repair or move city operations from the brutalist building.
The organization plans to submit a letter of intent to the city secretary’s office Friday, Oct. 2, to begin a petition drive, which aims to place a proposed amendment on the May 2027 ballot to require city government operations to remain at the current City Hall.
Individuals signing and presenting the letter next Friday include Texas Rep. John Bryant, Dallas County Commissioner Elba Garcia, former City Council members Veletta Forsythe-Lill and Erik Wilson, and Steve Atkinson, former president of the Dallas Gay & Lesbian Alliance.
The Save Dallas City Hall Coalition will immediately begin organizing volunteers and gathering signatures next Friday, according to a press release.
“We are confident that we will be able to get the required 20,000 signatures to get this on the ballot,” former Mayor Laura Miller said during the press conference. “According to our recent polling of 1,381 City of Dallas registered municipal voters, 84% responded that they want to save the building.”
Miller was joined by fellow City Hall supporters who spoke at the press conference, including Emily Corrigan and Laura Cole, granddaughters of former Dallas Mayor J. Erik Jonsson, and Liane Pei, daughter of architect I.M. Pei.
“My father designed Dallas City Hall to last,” Liane Pei said during the press conference. “It has good bones that will defy the ravages of intentional neglect, poor stewardship, and the failures of civic leadership.”
