Dallas weighs City Hall demolition as repair bill nears $1 billion

Dallas is confronting a brutal taxpayer choice: pour money into a landmark civic building that now needs nearly $1 billion in work, or clear the site and start over while the city also weighs downtown redevelopment and a possible new arena for the Mavericks. The fight has moved quickly from maintenance to strategy, with residents already signaling they want the building saved.

Dallas City Hall, the 47-year-old I.M. Pei design at 1500 Marilla Street, was planned in 1966, broke ground on June 26, 1972 and cost nearly $70 million when it was completed in 1978. It was conceived as part of Mayor J. Erik Jonsson’s effort to rebuild Dallas’s civic image after the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy, and City Hall Plaza has long been treated as part of the architectural composition rather than just open space around a building.

The latest condition report showed how deep the problem runs. Plumbing, HVAC, electrical and power systems are beyond their useful lives. The report also flagged water intrusion, an unfinished third-level basement full of water, thermally inefficient aluminum-framed windows, code-compliance problems, inaccessible council chambers and the absence of fire sprinklers on floors one through six. City staff had estimated deferred maintenance at about $80 million in summer 2024. An October 2025 memo pushed that figure to $345 million. By February 2026, the estimate had ballooned to roughly $1 billion.

Dallas officials are now treating the issue as more than a facilities project. On Feb. 23, 2026, the Dallas City Council Finance Committee spent nearly six hours on the report and recommended moving the 311 and 911 call centers out of City Hall, studying redevelopment and relocation options, examining funding sources and launching a community feedback survey. More than 400 submissions from residents and others have since been reviewed, and most of them favored repair or preservation over demolition.

The council escalated the planning on March 4, when it adopted a resolution directing staff to develop a repair program with at least two phased repair-and-replacement options over 10 years. The same resolution told staff to explore relocation options for 311, 911, emergency operations and other City Hall functions. A May 8 memo said the council will receive a briefing on Phase I on May 20, with Phase II expected in late May or early June.

Preservation officials have discussed possible landmark designation criteria for City Hall, while advocates have warned against demolition and some council members have expressed skepticism about the price tag. For Dallas, the question is no longer whether the building needs work. It is whether a civic icon, a downtown footprint and a billion-dollar bill can all be reconciled in one decision.