The Communicator, Volume 3, Number 2, September 1977 Page: 2 of 4
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The
President's
ColumnBy Dorothy Savage
You, the members of the HPL, are
given each year a complete accounting of
the League's activities during the preced-
ing year. We would like to hear from you
with either approval or disapproval of our
actions as outlined below. We would also
like you to call us if you are interested in
becoming more directly involved in any
of our projects.
Report of HPL Activities from June 1,
1976 to June 1, 1977.
CONTINUING PROJECTS
Tours, Workshops, and Lectures
1,000 prospective "pioneers" toured the
homes opened for the second annual "Ur-
ban Pioneer Tour" in October 1976. These
tours, cosponsored by the Old Oak Cliff
Conservation Society, the Oak Lawn Pres-
ervation Society, and the Mid-Town Park
Association, demonstrate the charm and
practicality of recycling close-in houses
for residential use.
100 enthusiastic renovators attended a
day-long "Old House Workshop," No-
vember 1976.
Annual Christmas party was held at
the old King Mansion on Turtle Creek.
Over 500 members and guests attended
the evening Open House or toured on
Sunday. Each year the Christmas party is
held in a significant, old structure in need
of a creative owner to put it to an eco-
nomically feasible use.
Over 1,500 visitors toured the Historic
Homes and Landmarks opened for the
Fifth Annual Tour in May 1977.
Presented one day Old House Work-
shop to 100 enthusiastic renovators.
Cooperated with residents of the Swiss
Avenue Historic District to host clubs and
convention wives in scheduled tours of the
area and visits to homes.
Presented programs on preservation to
local and state organizations.
Wrote appropriate officials to request
the following: That the City of Dallas ac-
cept the Mobil Building, move to have it
declared a Dallas Landmark, and protect
it from demolition; that the City of Dallas
actively seek an adaptive use for the Old
Fire House on Cedar Springs and the
nearby row of small early 20th century
business buildings; that the Community
Development Funds for 77-78 include
several preservation related projects -
particularly the salary of a full-time co-
ordinator for development of the Ware-
house District.
Published "The Junius Heights Col-
umns" booklet, and distributed it to local
libraries. This concluded this project.
MUNGER PLACE PROJECT
Completed and published the Munger
Place Survey with a Matching Grant from
the National Trust.
Implemented the Historic Dallas Fund
in the Lower Munger Place Project withPARK ROW SOUTH BLVD.
PRESERVATION ASSOCIATION
* The South Boulevard/Park Row
task force is eagerly awaiting the beginning
of the street pavement project. Over 50%
of the residents have had their sidewalks
and driveway approaches paved.
* Yard-of-the-Month Contest: first,
second, and third place prizes are given
during the months of June, July, and
August for the most beautiful and best
kept yards on both South Blvd. and Park
Row. The Dallas National Bank (formerly
the Fair Park Bank) is awarding the first
place prize - a $25.00 Savings Bond; sec-
ond place prize is awarded by Sears
Roebuck --a $10.00 gift certificate; and
the third place prize is awarded by the
Black Chamber of Commerce - a $5.00
gift certificate. This endeavor has created
much interest and enthusiasm among the
residents as well as yielding some very
beautiful and well kept lawns.
* Application forms have been se-
cured for South Blvd./Park Row to peti-
tion for official designation as an historical
marker site.
* The task force has been addressing
itself to work closely with the Urbana matching loan from the National Trust.
Seventeen houses were purchased and op-
tions obtained on six more. Thirteen were
resold or under contract. Protective cove-
nants are placed on each house as it is
resold to restoration-minded owners. This
direct intervention helped promote the
sale of over 45 other houses within the
area, mostly for single family use.
Cooperated with the Lower Munger
Place Property Owners in completing his-
toric research on the area and preparing
the necessary information to request that
it be given "Historic" designation by the
City of Dallas and be placed on the
National Register.
NEW ACTIVITIES AND PROJECTS
Opened a new office in June 1976 on
Kidwell Street. The use of this space was
donated to us by Lakewood Bank and
Trust.
Accepted donations of two old Victo-
rian Houses scheduled for demolition and
found private owners to move them to
other locations for residential use.
Cooperated with the City of Dallas and
other interested private organizations to
establish a procedure for moving sound
houses that would otherwise be demol-
ished to new locations for residential use
with loans insured by Community Devel-
opment Funds.
Completed plans to make an inventory
of Victorian houses still standing in Dal-
las with the help of a National Trust
Intern in the summer of 1977.
Established a procedure for annual
awards for outstanding preservation ef-
forts and sponsored a luncheon meeting
with the Dallas Historical Society for the
preserntation of the Historic Preservation
League's First Annual Griffon Awards.
Susan Mead became Executive Director
of Historic Preservation League. Susan
has a B.A. in Art History from Trinity
College, Hartford, Connecticut, a year's
experience with the National Trust and
National Register, and J.D. degree from
SMU School of Law.
Retained Legal Counsel to file an ami-
cus curie brief with the Texas Supreme
Court in support of the constitutionality
of Section 6 of the Texas Antiquities
Code.
Landmark Keyring designed and sold
for the mutual benefit of Trinity Metho-
dist Church and the Historic Preservation
League.
Special fund established for the beauti-
fication of the South Boulevard/Park Row
Historic District. Donations were solicited
from early residents.
Joined with other local preservation
groups to form an organization to im-
prove communication and coordination of
efforts.Rehabilitation Department of the City of
Dallas. Alfred Roberts and Marye Nobles
attended the meeting of the Urban Re-
habilitation Board. Of special concern are
the absentee landlords, vacant lots, and
property which does not meet the mini-
mum city code standards.
* Historic Marker: The group is look-
ing forward to the arrival of the historic
marker; plans are in the making for cere-
monies celebrating the official placing of
the historic marker.
OLD OAK CLIFF CONSERVATION
LEAGUE, INC.
Fall projects for the Old Oak Cliff Con-
servation League are:
* Participation of Winnetka Heights
in Urban Pioneer House Tour with other
inner city neighborhoods of Dallas.
* League Board involvement in learn-
ing mechanics of inner city home repair
loan programs in order to be of service to
the old Oak Cliff areas in addition to
Winnetka Heights.
* Continued research into the early
history of old Oak Cliff with possible
brochures and slide show available this
Fall about this important heritage of Oak
Cliff.Mobil Building - Dallas, Texas
Photo by Doug Tomlinson
This Building Will Be Yours
An open letter to the citizens of Dallas:What a building you are about to own!
Not just two or three or a dozen of you;
all of you - as citizens and taxpayers of
the nation's 8th largest city.
The Mobil Building, 29 stories tall
and 57 years old, is soon to be yours -
which is to say that it will belong offi-
cially to your city government when the
Mobil Oil Corp., in a few months, moves
out to take up new quarters. Mobil,
rather than sell the building outright,
generously offered it as a gift to the city,
and the city gladly accepted. As why
should it not have? Your new building is
not just a choice piece of real estate
(worth some $4 million, experts believe),
but a stately portion of your local heritage.
Gigantic skyscrapers nowadays parti-
tion the downtown Dallas skyline among
themselves, but once the Mobil Building
- or as it was formerly called, the
Magnolia Building - stood alone. To
see it from afar, with its Flying Red
Horse floating gracefully in the air above,
was to know that Dallas lay just ahead.
On the Mobil Building's completion in
1922, there were, in all of America out-
side New York City, only two buildings
taller. Or as the architect, the eminent
Sir Alfred Bossom, would later express
it, "When I designed that wonderful
building, it was, at 29 stories, the tallest
thing that had ever been built south of
Washington, D.C., even by the Aztecs."
But now that "that wonderful build-
ing" is nearly yours the question arises:
How is the best use to be made of it?
This is where you come in, for you are,
after all, the future owners. Your say is
what counts.
There actually are various potential
uses for the Mobil Building. Mayor Robert
Folsom and City Manager George Schra-
der have mentioned the possibility of
remodeling it for housing - something
most people agree downtown Dallas very
much needs. Or it could be leased for
office space. Or for housing and commer-
cial purposes both. The talent and imag-
ination of today's architects and de-
signers will point the way.<
Surely, however, the first priority is
that the Mobil Building survive. This
sounds fundamental, but it should not be
taken for granted. Old buildings have
disappeared on all sides of us, seemingly
for no better reason than that they were
old. We still have some left, to remind
us who we are and whence we came, but
they are a relative handful at best.
The city - which means you - in-
tends to sell the Mobil Building if it can,
understanding that the role of landlord
is not the most logical one for local
government. The sale thus is agreeable
but the conditions of the sale are another
matter. If the Mobil Building and the Fly-
ing Red Horse - the horse by itself
enjoys local landmark status - are to
remain a part of Dallas, the city must so
stipulate. It would be deeply wrong for
the city to sell the building to a concern
that promptly tore it down to put some-
thing else in its place, or almost as bad,
mutilated it beyond recognition. Horse
and building together - they are a part
of Dallas; to lose either or both would
diminish us as a community.
The time is here, then, to think long
and hard about our Mobil Building. No
one wants it to sit idle. Neither, surely,
can very many want it smashed to bits,
the grandiose arches pulverized, the Fly-
ing Red Horse put out to pasture.
The thing to do is find a use that
both makes money for the building's pur-
chasers and keeps the building itself
standing solidly as ever at Commerce and
Akard, where it has stood through boom
and bust, through war and peace.
We have dedicated ourselves to the
task of ensuring a future for the Mobil
Building and invite all Dallas citizens,
whether newcomers from Kansas City or
oldcomers who date back to John Neely
Bryan, to join in this endeavor. The
Mobil Building is yours; yes, and so is it
your childrens', and their childrens'. May
the Flying Red Horse wing high in the
sky for them, as it does now for all of us.
Sincerely
Historic Preservation League TrusteesVOLUNTEERS NEEDED!
The Historic Preservation League, Inc.
desperately needs your help now! Since
moving downtown, our work load has
tripled. Our office staff canot cope with
the monumental increase of research and
public service. For information, please
contact Margarita O'Brien, at 821-1618.KU
U
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Dallas Historic Preservation League. The Communicator, Volume 3, Number 2, September 1977, periodical, September 1977; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth887958/m1/2/?q=Lamar+University: accessed June 6, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Preservation Dallas.