Dallas, TX
Dallas City Hall is in bad shape; how bad we just don’t know
From the get-go, the conversation about Dallas City Hall’s future has been polluted by finger pointing, foregone conclusions and unreasonable expectations. Council members are set today to discuss the building again. They should bring the patience, honesty and open-mindedness this debate deserves.
The hulking structure designed by architecture legend I.M. Pei has deteriorated to the point where the city can’t continue to do nothing. Options include moving into a different, existing space, constructing a new city hall or staying put and repairing 1500 Marilla.
City staffers earlier this month presented a wide-ranging estimate that it would cost between $152 million and $345 million to handle the building’s deferred maintenance.
Council members must now decide whether to invest in getting better numbers — probably at great cost — or to cut bait and move on with a different option.
At the briefing earlier this month, some council members sharply questioned the cost figures’ reliability. And we’ll grant that any estimate with a $200 million range is plainly imprecise. But there should be room for a little grace here. Assistant City Manager Donzell Gipson told us staffers had little time to offer an estimate of the total cost of City Hall’s deferred maintenance.
In an Aug. 29 memo, Mayor Eric Johnson named council committee members and outlined priorities for each committee. The finance committee was instructed to “determine whether Dallas City Hall and other municipal facilities effectively support City operations and best serve the citizens of Dallas.”
After the mayor issued the committee charges, staff received a committee assignment asking for a dollar figure on the cost to fix City Hall, Gipson said. The finance committee met to discuss this topic on Oct. 21. By our math, that gave city staff less than two months to come up with a wildly complex number — hardly a reasonable timeframe.
So city staff used what information they had and cobbled together an estimate from bits and pieces of knowledge about various systems and needs in the 1978 building.
The $17 million quote for new emergency generators is a recent one, Gipson explained, so that one should be reliable. Two of the larger items, water infiltration and garage repair, are estimated to cost at $72 million to $100 million and $25 million to $145 million, respectively. Gipson said those estimates are partly based on old quotes adjusted into today’s dollars and partly on other potential unknowns.
There are concerns about leaks in the reflecting pool, for example, and fixing that problem could carry many unknown costs, Gipson said.
What lends credibility to staff’s low-range estimate is a facilities condition assessment dated October 2018. It identified some $92 million in needed repairs and replacements at City Hall, a city spokesperson said. Many of the items in the report were never addressed.
It’s been years since Dallas learned City Hall needed nearly $100 million in maintenance, and deferred maintenance costs grow the longer they’re deferred. So staff’s $152 million low-end estimate may not be a hard quote, but it reads as reasonable to us based on the costs that were assessed in the recent past.
Staff said some of the high-range estimates are based on unknowns. That sounds like a guess to us. But City Hall is an unusually difficult building to work with, in part because it isn’t constructed like most buildings. Its exterior and interior concrete structure makes it hard and expensive to assess costs. So staff threw out a number they hope is the worst-case scenario to fulfill the mandate in the committee charge.
Now, there’s a caveat to all this. Dallas City Hall — both council and staff — have done an abysmal job of managing the city’s real estate assets. Keeping track of the maintenance needs at City Hall and other city-owned properties is grinding work. It’s also work that just doesn’t get done in a systemized way.
The most recent and memorable example of Dallas’ real estate bungles is the building at 7800 N. Stemmons Freeway. The city bought it to use as a permitting center and then couldn’t get permits for it.
The failures ran so deep that City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert instructed staff to “suspend all real estate purchasing unless previously approved by Dallas voters or the City Council.”
The last inventory of city-owned property was in 2017, our newsroom colleague reported in May, and Dallas assessed only 220 of its more than 500 properties at that time.
The most recent city budget did include plans for an updated facility condition assessment, and a February memo does discuss the development of a new “Strategic Real Estate Master Plan.” Hopefully, those steps will help.
As for City Hall, residents will have an opportunity to voice their opinions at a listening session hosted tonight by council members Cara Mendelsohn and Paul Ridley. Both council members oppose tearing the building down, an option we think needs to be on the table.
Some of the talk there will likely focus on staff’s estimates for repairs. The numbers aren’t perfect, but make no mistake, City Hall does have serious and costly problems that must be addressed.
Whether the time is right to move on is a tough call. But pretending that staff inflated the figures just to prime the city for a teardown doesn’t match the facts we reviewed.
A real conversation about what to do next should begin with the reality that this building is in trouble, and there is no cheap way out.
At least four people were injured after a vehicle drove into a crowd of people in Dallas on Thursday evening.
Dallas police responded to an “Assist Officer call with an Ambulance” at approximately 7 p.m. in the 300 block of West Davis Street.
Authorities learned that a vehicle drove into a crowd, injuring multiple people. At least four have been taken to a local hospital for treatment. Police said no one was in critical condition.
The driver of the vehicle was arrested at the scene, police said. Authorities are still working to determine if this driver could have been drunk or if this could have been a medical episode.
According to police, there is no indication that the crash was terrorism related.
The investigation is ongoing.
This story will be updated as we learn more.
Dallas, TX
FOX’s Kasper Schmeichel compares England to Dallas Cowboys, so who are their other sports analogs?
Scottish World Cup fans reportedly drink Boston dry
Dana Perino announces that Scottish World Cup fans have caused an unprecedented beer shortage in Boston, emptying bars and liquor stores. Jesse Watters playfully observes that Europeans visiting America seem to “love it,” despite negative media portrayals, while Greg Gutfeld adds a satirical comment about “liberal mayors” and local resource management, contrasting Boston’s beer woes with LA’s water and Chicago’s Bears.
FOX Soccer analyst Kasper Schmeichel came prepared for this year’s World Cup on American soil.
The former Danish goalkeeper may not be from around these parts, but that didn’t stop him from dropping an eerily accurate comparison between two overconfident but long-suffering sports programs.
With England and Croatia warming up inside AT&T Stadium, the home of the Dallas Cowboys, Schmeichel decided he would roast two fanbases with one stone, comparing the Cowboys to the Three Lions with a hilarious one-liner.
Funny, but also painfully true if you’re a supporter of either team.
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I made a comparison last week between the English national team and Notre Dame, but Schmeichel got me thinking, who are the sports analogs to England from the four major North American leagues (NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA)?
Today, I will be doing exactly that, including giving a slightly better NFL comp than the Cowboys (shocking, I know).
Without further ado, let’s piss off our neighbors from across the pond.
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NFL – Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears helmets are displayed before the game against the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nev., on Sept. 28, 2025. (Kiyoshi Mio/Imagn Images)
While the Dallas Cowboys are a fine comparison for the English national soccer team, I think I can do one better.
Schmeichel mentioned that England “won it once and have never stopped talking about it,” and although the second part of that statement applies to both, the Cowboys are five-time Super Bowl champions, having won it most recently in January 1996, a good three decades after England.
If you really want a team that more accurately mirrors the hard luck of the English, it would have to be the Chicago Bears.
3 HISTORIC NFL FRANCHISES FIND THEMSELVES IN SAME BOAT SINCE TURN OF THE CENTURY
They have one Super Bowl win to their name, which came 40 years ago, and really don’t have much else to show for it.
Also, having lived in the DFW area for the better part of a decade, I can confidently say Cowboys fans are a little too arrogant and cocky to be compared to the English.
Sure, England will say things like “it’s coming home,” but they are far more self-deprecating and aware of their faults, even nihilistic in some cases.
The Bears hang onto their history because they know things will inevitably go bad for them on the biggest stage.
Speaking of which…
NHL – Toronto Maple Leafs
Spencer Carbery, assistant coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, looks on from the bench during the third period against the Washington Capitals at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ont., on April 14, 2022. (Kevin Sousa/NHLI via Getty Images)
The Toronto Maple Leafs actually line up with England more closely than either fanbase would like to admit.
While the Leafs have a litany of Stanley Cups to their name, their most recent win was back in 1967, less than a full year after England won their first and only World Cup.
As far as expectations go, both constantly go into their respective tournaments with the weight of the world on their shoulders, only to come crashing down in the most horrific ways imaginable.
For the Leafs, it comes in the form of blowing big leads in the playoffs, while English fans and players alike can’t even hear the words “penalty kicks” without having a mental breakdown.
England and Toronto are both long-suffering cities, but their fans keep showing up expecting a different outcome.
Insanity? No, just sports fandom.
NBA – New York Knicks
Jalen Brunson of the New York Knicks celebrates a three-point basket with Karl-Anthony Towns during Game Two of the 2026 NBA Finals at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas, on June 5, 2026. (Ronald Cortes/Getty Images)
This one would have been an even better comparison if the New York Knicks hadn’t gone and won the whole damn thing this year, but these two sports teams are still eerily similar.
WHY THE KNICKS, DISRESPECTED BUT CLAWING BACK, TOUCHED A RAW NERVE IN NEW YORK CITY AND ULTIMATELY THE COUNTRY
Think of the Knicks’ 2026 NBA Championship run as a window into what it would look like if England captured a World Cup (on American soil, no less).
Before this year, the Knicks famously had not won a Larry O’Brien trophy in over 50 years, yet they were still considered one of the “blue bloods” of the NBA.
Decades of heartache didn’t change that; it only made their fans more insufferable, but their triumph earlier this month in the NBA Finals exorcised all those demons.
THE ATHLETIC BEWILDERINGLY CELEBRATES ‘ZOHRAN MAMDANI SPORTS SUMMER’ AFTER NEW YORK KNICKS WIN NBA FINALS
A win in the World Cup Finals would probably do the same for England fans, as you could probably feel that sigh of relief from the other side of the Atlantic.
MLB – New York Mets
New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto reacts after scoring a run on an RBI double by infielder Bo Bichette against the San Francisco Giants during the first inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif., on April 2, 2026. (Robert Edwards/Imagn Images)
Hello again, New York.
The Big Apple certainly has its fair share of winners, but it also has plenty of franchises that are aching to make a trip back down the Canyon of Heroes, none more so than the Mets.
Year after year, the Mets are near the top of MLB in terms of spending, with little to show for their efforts.
WATCH THE WORLD CUP FINAL ON FOX ONE
They won a World Series back in 1986 and have been chasing that high ever since.
The common thread between England and the Mets (along with all the other teams on this list) is expectations relative to results, and it seems like the Mets are sort of a Schrödinger’s baseball franchise in that regard, expected to both compete for a World Series with their high-priced talent and flame out in spectacular fashion all the same.
FOX ONE’S NEW WORLD CUP VIEWING EXPERIENCE
England always has flashy players heading into World Cup play, but the results haven’t been there, and they’ve often been sent home in brutal fashion, offering a great parallel to the Mets’ clockwork-like midsummer swoons and late-season meltdowns.
Guerrocastillo was taken into custody without incident and charged with Prohibited Weapon, a third-degree felony; Unlawful Carrying of a Weapon, a class A misdemeanor; Possession of Marijuana under two ounces, a class B misdemeanor; and Public Intoxication, a class C misdemeanor.
“Foot patrols are a foundational part of policing, and our Deep Ellum Task Force officers are making great arrests and providing increased security by walking a beat,” said Deputy Chief Devon Palk, who is commander of the Central Patrol Group. “Having our officers on foot, on horseback, and in our new Polaris utility vehicle puts officers exactly where we need them during peak hours in the area.”
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