(rshsdepot) Dallas, TX

[jdent1_@_optonline.net]

City wants 1920s depot rebuilt
Dallas sues West End landowner after historic warehouse torn down

12:00 AM CDT on Saturday, May 20, 2006
By MICHAEL E. YOUNG / The Dallas Morning News 


Huge backhoes tore into the old Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad freight depot in the West End three weeks ago, and a fleet of dump trucks carted away much of the rubble before most people even noticed.

Now the city of Dallas wants the property owner to rebuild the 29,000-square-foot depot brick by historic brick, "using as many of the original materials as possible."

The city filed suit in state district court on Friday to force property owner TCI West End Inc. "to construct ... a new building at the same location that is a reasonable facsimile of the demolished historic structure."

The depot, built about 1925, served as a tangible link to Dallas' emergence as a major railroad center, the source of much of the city's early prosperity.

"If it wasn't for the depot, the rest of the buildings in the West End wouldn't be here," said Greg Schooley, executive director of the West End Association. "These are all old warehouses."

City officials maintain that TCI and demolition contractor Weir Industries Inc. tore down the sprawling, single-story red-brick building at Houston Street and Ross Avenue without a proper permit and without obtaining the approval of the city's Landmark Commission or the Dallas City Council – necessities for demolishing buildings within the West End Historic District.

Attorney Eddie Vassallo, who represents TCI, could not be reached for comment Friday afternoon.

But Al Weir of Weir Industries maintained that his company had a demolition permit from the city.

"The one I have is to demolish the building and clear the lot," Mr. Weir told The Dallas Morning News shortly after the depot was torn down.

City officials, though, say the demolition permit, obtained by Lewisville contractor NE Construction, covered only a small 1970s addition to the property covering 500 square feet. The permit was revoked on April 20, a week before the depot was demolished, and NE Construction president Charles Nicholas said he notified the owners of that.

On April 21, a city building inspector placed a "red tag" on the front door of the freight depot as required by city code. According to the lawsuit, the red tag ordered contractors to contact the city building department before beginning any work on the property.

"To my knowledge, my people never saw a red tag," Mr. Weir said.

He blamed any problems on "some ambiguity between the city and Transcontinental Realty," which lists the same Dallas address as TCI and conveyed the depot property to TCI in March.

The demolition angered city officials and property owners. 

When Mr. Weir appeared before the Dallas City Council on an unrelated matter, Mayor Laura Miller used the opportunity to vent her displeasure.

"You can't be in the city of Dallas and go demolish buildings illegally and think that's going to be OK," she told him. "It's a big problem, and we wish you had gotten the proper permitting."

Property owners in the West End were equally distressed.

"This is one of the hottest real estate areas in town with the Victory development opening nearby," said Mr. Schooley of the West End Association. "People are buying up properties right and left. What's to say we don't come in here on a Monday morning and there's another building gone?"

Staff writer Emily Ramshaw contributed to this report.

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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org

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