Happy Holidays from Preservation Dallas!
Nominate a Project for the
2022 Preservation Achievement Awards
Do you know of an outstanding preservation project that deserves merit, or maybe one that you have done? If so, nominate it for the 2022 Preservation Achievement Awards to be presented on May 19th. Nominations are due January 28. 

Award nominations are being accepted for: Rehabilitation or Adaptive Use of a residential historic building; Rehabilitation or Adaptive Use of a commercial, institutional, or mixed-use building: Rehabilitation of a Historic Landscape, Park or other Historic Resource; and New Construction/Infill in a historic neighborhood which may include an addition directly attached to a building, or an entirely new building (infill) which enhances the historic nature of the original building, streetscape or urban environment.
Preservation Dallas Member's Holiday Party
It was a great night to welcome members back to the festively decorated Wilson House for Preservation Dallas' Annual Holiday Party on December 3! We decked the halls in addition to arranging an entertaining and exciting evening to enjoy refreshments and beverages while catching up with friends and colleagues. 
 
Our special guest was 16 year old author Jack Drake, who signed copies of his new book Preston Hollow: A Brief History. Everybody enjoyed our newest, and youngest, Dallas historian. We have signed copies of Jack’s book for sale at the Wilson House and members receive 10% off book purchases.
  
Lucky winners of raffle prizes received a Thompson Hotel stay package, an Erika Huddleston original artwork and Trapp fragrances candles from Nicholson-Hardie (who also donated beautiful Poinsettias). Our dessert contest was a tight race, but our judges made it through the "daunting" task of sampling all of the delicious homemade sweets. Jean Alston and Glenn Offutt each took home gold snowflakes for their creations and Melissa Parent brought home silver for her two entries.
 
Thank you to all those who donated, volunteered and contributed to a very successful Holiday Party. We truly enjoyed having friends and laughter throughout the halls of the Wilson House!

Click here to view more photos from our evening!
January InTown Outing
Forest Theater

Mark your calendars now and join us on Saturday morning, January 22nd, as we tour the shuttered Forest Theater. Hear about the history of the theater from McCoy Collaborative and learn about the future from our hosts Forest Forward. The theater entrance, common areas and massive lobby are replete with original details to see before renovations begin. You do not want to miss this exciting tour!

InTown Outings are free for members of Preservation Dallas. If you know of a friend or colleague whose membership has lapsed, please urge them to renew. Or you can give the gift of membership to them this holiday season!
Corporate Partner Spotlight:
Brown Mountain Art & Antique Restoration
Brown Mountain Restoration has worked to restore and preserve both sentimental and fine art pieces for more than 20 years. Tucked away in East Dallas’ vibrant and bustling Knox-Henderson corridor, its team of conservators and artists have earned an enviable reputation from art collectors, antique dealers, designers and galleries. Brown Mountain works to preserve and conserve paintings, porcelains and ceramics, gilded frames and mirrors as well as other works of art for the general public. The team also treats large scale art and public works.
 
Laura Pate has owned and operated Brown Mountain for over 20 years. Laura is a Professional Associate member of the American Institute for Conservation. She also has Specialty Certification in the Care of Decorative Objects from The International Preservation Studies Center. She is a member of Texas Cultural Emergency Response Alliance as well as a National Heritage Responder, both of which specialize in aiding cultural organizations in the preparation and response to emergencies and natural disasters.
 
Brown Mountain has a small team of experienced and skilled conservators and restoration specialists. Amy Dobson has been employed at BMR for over 20 years. Her primary professional specialty at Brown Mountain is the conservation of paintings and murals. When away from the studio, she is a prolific and skilled painter of landscapes. Kathy Robinson-Hays, whose specialty at Brown Mountain is the painting of decorative objects, is also an artist in her life away from the studio. Her work includes painting, sculpture, photography and fiber based works. She is represented by Ro2 Art in Dallas. Jennifer Shrestha works at the studio treating porcelains and ceramics. Like her coworkers, she works outside of the studio in a creative capacity. She is an experienced custom picture framer and enjoys running a small frame and art business from her home.
 
These 4 women together make Brown Mountain the success that it is.
 
Some of the Dallas Landmarks in Brown Mountain’s portfolio of work include the restoration of the ceiling mural in the entryway at the Wilson House (Preservation Dallas’ office) and historic cabinet restoration at the Hall of State at Fair Park. BMR has also consulted and conserved paintings for the De Golyer House at the Dallas Arboretum, the Alexander Mansion and the Crowe Collection. BMR has also collaborated on gold leafing projects at several churches including Perkins Chapel at Southern Methodist University, St. Thomas Aquinas, The Chapel at Ursuline Academy and St. Francis Church on the Brazos.
 
The Texas Historical Commission’s Real Places 2022 conference will take place in person, in Austin, February 2–4. Presented by the Friends of the Texas Historical Commission in partnership with Phoenix I Restoration and Construction, Ltd., Real Places is the premier historic preservation and heritage tourism conference in the Lone Star State, where anyone interested in protecting our past can work directly with industry-leading experts to learn practical, actionable solutions they can apply in their community.

Learn more and sign up at realplaces.us 
Has your online research hit a brick wall?
Exciting news for those that would like to research in person again! Now that the public libraries are open again, patrons are able to schedule an appointment to do research in the Dallas History and Archives. Appointments will be required and you can set one up by emailing texas@dallaslibrary.org to start the process. They will send you information on how to make the appointment, preparing for your visit, what to expect with your appointment, and a form to fill out. For more information on the library openings go here.

You may also submit reserach requests online if you don't want to go into the library just yet. To do that, use the same email above and send in your research request with the information you are looking for and they will get back to you.
PRESERVATION ISSUES
Exchange Park – UT Southwestern has selected a firm to coordinate the demolition of the site with demolition to start in early 2022. Representatives from Preservation Dallas and the Braniff Airways Foundation, Braniff's headquarters used to be in Exchange Park, had a call with UT Southwestern leadership and they said the demolition of the complex is for future development of the site, although they don't have any immediate plans for the site. Go here for an article on Exchange Park in Candy's Dirt.

Longhorn Ballroom – Edwin Cabaniss is in the process of purchasing the Longhorn Ballroom to preserve and restore the cultural icon back to its former glory as an entertainment and music venue. Edwin owns the Kessler Theater in Oak Cliff and the Heights Theater in Houston, both successful music venues. He would like to add an outdoor concert venue to the site behind the Ballroom and will need approval from the City Plan Commission and City Council for that. That case will be going to CPC in January. Edwin has engaged DSGN and Marcel Quimby to help with the plans for the rehabilitation of the buildings on the site. A public meeting was held December 9 where Edwin talked about the project.

Reverchon Ballfield - The Park and Recreation Board voted at their December 9 meeting to approve pursing historic designation for the Ballfield and Reverchon Park. That will coincide with the restoration of the grandstands and ballfield and the addition of new restroom facilities.

Downtown and Deep Ellum Historic Resources Survey – The draft of the survey and the context statements are under review by Preservation Dallas staff, the Preservation Issues Committee and the City of Dallas. The consultants will review those comments, to be submitted by the end of the month, and incorporate them into a new draft which will go out for public review and comment in early 2022. 

Deep Ellum – Preservation Dallas has been working with the Deep Ellum Foundation towards National Register of Historic Places Historic District status for Deep Ellum. Preservation Dallas has engaged HHM, the consulting firm working on the downtown survey, to put together a Determination of Eligibility (DOE) for the National Register of Historic Places Historic District status as part of the process. The DOE will be submitted to the Texas Historical Commission the end of January for review and if they concur that deep Ellum is eligible as a Historic District the process can continue forward.
Director's Letter
David Preziosi, FAICP, Hon. AIA Dallas
2021 is rapidly coming to a close and it was definitely another challenging year, but better than 2020. We were able to navigate around COVID better and continued on with our virtual programming as we started to bring back some in person events. It was definitely great to have our Holiday Party again and to go all out decorating the Wilson House! The party was definitely a nice ending to the year. 
 
Still having to do virtual programming instead of in person was frustrating and we did the best with it for our HHS and AHHS classes along with Summer Sizzlers. The Preservation Achievement Awards were also virtual; however, we stepped up our game this year with better production values. It was an outstanding event and celebration of so many wonderful preservation projects and our honoree – Todd Interests. They have done an amazing job with so many preservation projects including the recent revitalization and transformation of the First National Bank building into The National, which just happens to be the largest tax credit project in the state!
 
There was a bit of in person programming this year as we worked on easing back into it. We held our first InTown Outing in over a year at the Old Red Museum of Dallas County History and Culture to see it before Old Red returns to being a courthouse. We also changed up our Fall Architectural Tour and moved it outside for the Cemeteries of Dallas Tour so we could be in person. It was a great success and a wonderful alternative to touring historic houses. 
 
We also worked on several big items this year. We launched our new web site, which has been a big improvement over the old one. We continued to work with the consultants on the Downtown Dallas and Deep Ellum Historic Resource Survey, which is due to be completed early next year. In October, we dedicated our library at the Wilson House in honor of Virginia Savage McAlester. We are so pleased that the room is connected to Virginia with her table, chairs, family portraits and her work on display. There was also an incredible memorial and dedication of the tribute sculpture in Virginia’s honor in October. We are glad that Preservation Dallas could be a part of making that happen and if you have not seen the tribute sculpture for Virginia in person, you need to go see it in the Aldredge House garden.   
 
This year was also a year of staff change for Preservation Dallas. We said goodbye to Irene after eight years of her wonderful work and dedication to Preservation Dallas as left to move to San Antonio. Jennifer Solomon took her place and has done a wonderful job of getting up to speed and taking on the membership and programming duties along with doing a great job of handling our social media. Danelle left us after a year working on development and we greatly appreciate her amazing work on the Virginia Savage McAlester tribute project and bringing that project to fruition with the help of many of Virginia’s friends. And then there is Donovan who boomeranged back to us once again after returning to Dallas from Canada. It has been wonderful to have him back working on events and he did a bang up job with the Cemeteries of Dallas tour and is currently working on the 2022 Preservation Achievement Awards. It was also great to have him back to work on the decorations for the holiday party!
 
Next year Preservation Dallas will be celebrating 50 years of preservation work in Dallas! Incredible to think that we have been around that long fighting for the historic places of Dallas. We have certainly come along way and have advanced historic preservation in Dallas due to the hard work and dedication of our founders, past board members, many volunteers, dedicated staff, and devoted membership. Throughout 2022, we will be highlighting our work over 50 years and are very excited that we will be holding our 2022 Preservation Achievement Awards and 50th Anniversary Celebration at The National on May 19! It will be a big celebration, so dust off your formal wear for an exciting evening!
 
Thank you to everyone for your tremendous support in the past year as it has kept us going and fighting for Dallas’ historic places! We certainly couldn’t do that without the support of our wonderful members, sponsors, and corporate partners. I hope that everyone enjoys the holiday the season and that 2022 will be amazing and bring good health and happiness for all!
Support Preservation Dallas While Shopping!
Did you know that when you shop through AmazonSmile, 5% of your total is donated to Preservation Dallas at no extra cost to you? 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!
Preservationist I
Toni Burt
Patricia Cox
Edward Stone
Preservationist II
Scott, Regan, and Jack Drake
Ruben Garza
Thank you to the following members for renewing!
Blackland Management
Merriman Anderson Architects
Crystal Bell
Scott & Kelly Bradley
Liz Casso & Bill Hersch
Charlene Clements
Harrison Connor
Andreea Hamilton
Will Hartnett
Greg Johnston
Amanda McNeill
Vicki King
Traci Rodd
Jonathan Rollins
Amy Schaffner
Rene Schmidt
Alicia Schroeder
Stacey Soper
James Wilson
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 here:
CORPORATE PARTNERS
Legacy Corporate Partner
Corporate Partner Level II
Corporate Partners Level I
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