Dallas Bishop Arts Demolition Dispute

The demolition of an old warehouse in the historic Dallas Bishop Arts District has neighbors feuding over whether the building should have been saved.

The warehouse portion of the Calvario Funeral Home stood in the 300 block of West Davis Street near Bishop. Records show it was built in 1928.

It came down last week, just days after the Dallas City Council passed a new law to impose a 55 day waiting period on potentially historic structures after a demolition permit is requested.

The Bishop Arts building demolition permit was requested weeks before the new law took effect.

Cody Ellison, who runs neighboring businesses and serves as President of the Bishop Arts Merchants Association said the funeral home owner told him the warehouse roof was collapsing.

"I think that old buildings should definitely be preserved. I feel like this old building was too far gone," Ellison said. "This is going to be a new restaurant, bring new jobs to the neighborhood. It's definitely going to be a better use of the space than the old building that was falling down."

Nearby property owner Michael Amonett is also a member of the Dallas Landmark Commission. He worked on the new historic preservation law approved by the City Council last week. Amonett said the funeral home owner has been responsible for the building for the past 20 years and should have maintained the roof.

"It's a loss of a contributing piece of history to the district and it's a shame that it will be hauled away to the landfill," Amonett said. "They have two restaurants across the street that they can't adequately park and now they're going to build another one."

The warehouse structure was legally removed but in the future neighbors will at least have more time after a demolition application to fight before it is completed.

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