The George Dahl-designed Church of the Master, which was torn down in 2016. Photo by Alicia Quintans
Oak Cliff is too desirable, too untouched. The destruction of old buildings it not going to stop as long as there is money to be made here.
Aside from having billions of dollars and buying up old buildings ourselves, it’s hard to know what to do about it. How do Oak Cliff neighbors put up a resistance?
The Old Oak Cliff Conservation League, Preservation Dallas and Advocate Magazines hosted a discussion this week about historic preservation, and a few ideas came up.
Here seven resistance actions anyone could take:
- Engage with the Old Oak Cliff Conservation League. Sign up for their newsletter online.
- Volunteer with the league.
- Join Oak Cliff This Place Matters on Facebook. Download the This Place Matters toolkit from the National Trust for Historic Places and start letting the world know about the places that are important to you.
- Contact the Mayor and City Council members and let them know that the new demolition delay area should be expanded to include more of Oak Cliff.
- Consider initiating a historic or conservation district for your neighborhood.
- Engage with the process: Attend zoning hearing, City Council meetings, Landmark Commission meetings and demolition delay hearings.
- Shop historic: Spend your money in the neighborhood in buildings that have been preserved, when possible. On the flip side, don’t patronize businesses that are responsible for demolishing historic buildings.
