Liane Pei said she has only set foot inside the seven-story city hall building in downtown Dallas a few times in her life. “When I see the interior of this building, my first reaction is ‘that’s Dad,” Pei said. “My father had this amazing, unique ability to channel light and how importa nt it is to a building.” Pei is the only daughter of famed architect I.M. Pei, who designed Dallas City Hall in the late 1960’s after meeting mayor J. Erik Jonsson following the assassination of John F. Kennedy in downtown Dallas in 1963. “Dallas holds one of the most important places in my Dad’s professional career,” Pei said Thursday. It’s why Pei, who lives in New York, joined four Dallas city council members, Dallas County Commissioner Elba Garcia, Texas State Rep. John Bryant, along with preservationists and supporters Thursday on the plaza of City Hall. The Save Dallas City Hall coalition announced it will launch a petition drive to collect signatures to place a charter amendment before Dallas voters next May to weigh in on the future of City Hall. “History is always worth saving,” Garcia said.Garcia is one of five signatories on a letter that will be submitted to the Dallas City Secretary on Oct. 2, a required step before signature gathering can begin. “We’re ready to get the 20,000 signatures that we need,” Garcia said. The move is the latest in an ongoing debate on the future of the I.M. Pei designed building that opened in March 1978. Supporters of relocating city hall say the site would be better purposed for economic redevelopment, but no specific opportunity has been cited. In June, the Dallas Mavericks informed the city it is pursuing the NBA franchise’s new arena and mixed-use development at the old Valley View Mall location off I-635. The Dallas City Council in June voted 9-6 to give city manager Kim Tolbert the authority to seek up to four letters of intent for alternative city hall locations in the Central Business District. Tolbert told council in late June her goal was to bring back information, including the cost to relocate, to city council by late August. To date, no council briefing, memo or update regarding alternate city hall locations has been released. Supporters of keeping city hall in place say a charter amendment will place the question of the building’s future in the right hands. “We are going to ask the people,” council member Adam Bazaldua said. Pei says her family continues to watch the debate in Dallas closely. “I feel like the taxpayers have already paid for Dallas City Hall, and they should not be asked to have to foot the bill for another project that has absolutely no substance to it,” Pei said. “You can’t walk away from history, and you can’t erase history, and you can’t erase this building,”Pei said. ...read more read less