Jan 21, 2008 8:34 pm US/Central
100 Years Of Dallas History Is History
DALLAS (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
Like or not, the City of Dallas has a reputation of tearing down its old buildings and with it goes much of its history.
"We've got to protect the history of our city, and unfortunately we just didn't do it in this case," said Dallas City Councilwoman Angela Hunt.
More than a hundred years of history came tumbling down as the old Hard Rock Café building was demolished. Built in 1906, the building first served as the McKinney Avenue Baptist Church.
Many in Uptown Dallas are not pleased about the demolition. Among them is Councilwoman Hunt.
"I don't appreciate being lied to and I don't appreciate the developer lying to my constituents," Hunt said.
According to Hunt, the developer met with her and concerned neighbors in the spring of last year.
"He told them and he told me personally not to worry because he would protect this building and had great plans for it," she said.
But the developer, Brett Landes, told CBS 11 that he made a valiant effort to lease the building.
"We went to many, many different companies. We spent a year and more than a quarter of a million dollars trying to find the right tenant. We just couldn't get anyone to garner any interest in the building," he explained.
Landes said he approached restaurants, night clubs, even non-profits and none of them worked out.
"As much as we wanted to put the right concept there to keep the building, it just wasn't economically viable," he said.
Councilwoman Hunt said she's also disappointed with the city's landmark commission. In April, the commission refused to designate the building as an historical landmark.
Meanwhile, the developer said he plans to build a 15-story luxury apartment building once the rubble of the Hard Rock has been hauled away.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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