Dallas to Pay $358K to Address Hotel’s 30-Ton Pegasus Dilemma

One ultimate agenda merchandise remained earlier than the Dallas Metropolis Council was in a position to break for lunch on Wednesday: a 30-ton purple Pegasus.

For an hour and a half, the town’s Workplace of Arts and Tradition appeared earlier than the Council, in response to D Journal, to warn of the hazard posed by the 88-year-old Pegasus signal perched atop the 29-story Magnolia Lodge. Winds had been selecting up, they mentioned, and the Pegasus signal and its eroding metal helps, which might topple and crush pedestrians under, had been a catastrophe ready to occur.

By the tip of the assembly, all however one Council member authorized spending about $358,000 to safe and restore the Pegasus that’s embellished the town’s skyline since 1934.

Whereas the potential for a plummeting purple horse weighing about as a lot as a big fireplace truck could sound like a urgent concern, a number of members of the Council — whose seats, the publication famous, had been organized in a horseshoe — took concern with the truth that the resort enjoys all the advantages of the equine artwork set up with out contributing to its upkeep.

“I don’t be ok with it,” mentioned Council member Cara Mendelsohn, the only “nay” vote.

Although they’ve appreciated the large Pegasus, the Commerce Avenue resort’s varied house owners have traditionally been unwilling to pay for its repairs, in response to D Journal. Naturally, metropolis officers needed to know why taxpayers have been caught with the invoice for 88 years.

Assistant Metropolis Lawyer Connie Tankersley mentioned by way of the years, the resort had been approached by metropolis employees about sharing among the expense of protecting the Pegasus airborne.

“These conversations weren’t fruitful,” she mentioned bluntly.

The 100-year-old Magnolia is at present owned by NewcrestImage, a Dallas-based actual property funding firm, which purchased the property from Denver’s Stout Avenue Hospitality final 12 months.

“I used to be current for the dialogue and I wouldn’t characterize it as unfruitful,” countered Kay Kallos, the town’s Public Artwork Program Supervisor. “NewCrestImage… has not been unwilling to contribute to the upkeep of the Pegasus.”

Finger-pointing apart, confronted with the potential for authorized motion that would consequence from the flying horse tipping over and squashing pedestrians, some on the Council felt they had been left with little alternative.

“We’re going into our two windiest months — we have to restore it,” Councilman Jesse Moreno mentioned. “It’s our obligation and duty.”

Council members Adam Bazaldua and Homosexual Donnell Willis questioned whether or not the entire concern was actually an emergency, as this was the primary time the Council was offered with an issue that was apparently solely found final fall. Balduza even proposed delaying the entire determination till it might go earlier than the High quality of Life committee to hash out doable methods to compel the resort to pitch in for repairs, however the OAC staffers insisted the repairs had been pressing.

“Within the occasion of a failure of any of those help factors, the end result could possibly be catastrophic,” they informed the Council.

“This can be a public security concern,” Council member Omar Narvaez informed his colleagues. “This isn’t about coverage. This isn’t about public artwork. This can be a public security concern. This council has greater than as soon as mentioned that public security is our primary precedence.”

[D Magazine] — Maddy Sperling