7 July 2 - 8, 2026 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents U.S. anytime soon, adding that New York isn’t collapsing overnight and that “they’re gonna put up a good fight.” Instead, he said a separation is more likely. “It’s not obvious we are number two now, because you’d have pretty good-sized num- bers in the Chicago area and pretty good- sized numbers in the New York area, and not tiny in the Bay Area, but I think we will become a clear number two, most likely, if we don’t do anything to blow it.” ▼ DEMO & DEVELOPMENT PUSHING BACK ON THE PUSH-BACK CONCERNS LINGER AS CONVENTION CENTER REDESIGN SHOT DOWN BY CITY COUNCIL. BY AUSTIN WOOD F acing hundreds of millions in addi- tional costs, Dallas City Council members voted Wednesday after- noon against returning the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center to its origi- nal height. The council voted 9 to 6 to deny the transportation committee’s recommenda- tion to move the $3.2 billion convention cen- ter to raise its design. As a result, connections north of the Trinity River from the two bridges will have to be rerouted, de- spite months of community activists push- ing to keep the routes into downtown intact. After nearly three hours in executive ses- sion, southern Dallas council member Lorie Blair introduced a motion to deny the trans- portation committee’s original recommen- dation to restore the convention center to its originally designed height. Staff were asked to identify $500 million in savings in Janu- ary. The center’s blueprint was lowered by two stories, but it became apparent in early 2026 that a redesign would require rerout- ing downtown connections off the Jefferson and Houston Street viaducts. Delays Hover Oak Cliff residents have largely opposed the plans. At a community meeting in April, many expressed frustration at being asked to lengthen their commutes for a conven- tion center project that is already behind schedule. Those comments were echoed by some residents at the meeting Wednesday. “Dallas has ignored and abused Oak Cliff for too long,” resident Cynthia Michaels told council members. “Treat us as you do the consultants and developers in North Dallas.” There were also a decent number of resi- dents, business owners with ties to the con- vention center and hoteliers who spoke in support of keeping the center at a lowered height. Recent estimates from staff, who have been said by some to be “heavily lobby- ing” council members against raising the center again, put the total loss from rede- signing it at over $1 billion, including over $273 million in lost revenue from delays. Staff presented a figure closer to $600 mil- lion in redesign costs when the initial rec- ommendation was made in May, a figure which is included in the updated estimate. Raising the convention center, according to staff, would result in $1.4 million in monthly losses due to completion delays. Those delays could set the project’s comple- tion date back by more than a year, they esti- mated. “I’m simply asking Dallas to deliver on time by continuing negotiations and not ceasing construction at the convention cen- ter,” Visit Dallas CEO Craig Davis told the council. Among major concerns for Oak Cliff resi- dents are potential impacts to travel times. Peak morning rush-hour traffic into down- town was originally expected to be delayed by up to six and a half minutes after con- struction is completed in 2030, with con- struction delays extending northbound commutes by up to 10 minutes. Staff told council members that adjustments have been made to reduce those delays, but did not offer specifics on how. Viaducts Aren’t Coming Down, Mostly Certain council members emphasized that — despite reports to the contrary — the bridges themselves would remain intact in- definitely. The Jefferson Avenue viaduct would have been closed and a section re- moved for demolition at the convention center regardless of the outcome. Several called out a wave of “misinformation” and emphasized that the city was not “cutting off southern Dallas from downtown,” a con- cern of many on the southern side of the Trinity. “At a time when downtown is struggling, we shouldn’t be cutting off access. We should be bringing it to Oak Cliff,” Chad West, a council member from Oak Cliff, said. “While I understand and share the concerns that some of my colleagues have about de- lays to the convention center, if we rush this and get this wrong, we’re making a decision that cannot be undone and will impact Oak Cliff for decades.” West asked for clarity on when the deci- sion to reconfigure the connections off the viaducts was made, as most of the council became aware of the issue earlier this year. Convention and Event Services Director Rosa Flemming pointed to a 2024 council decision to support a redesign of the con- vention center, despite schematics pre- sented in 2025 showing that Jefferson Avenue would still run through the rebuilt center along its current path. When asked by West whether the coun- cil should have expected the connections to be reconfigured based on information pro- vided in 2024, Department of Transporta- tion and Public Works Director Gus Khankarli said any changes will eventually require council approval via a thoroughfare amendment. ‘Hasn’t Been Ideal’ The recurring issue of the day seemed not to be the height of the convention center, which appeared to be a foregone conclusion by the time the council returned to the horseshoe shortly before 3 p.m, but con- cerns over how the city has approached the issue. While there was still division over the actual result, several agreed the proposed reconfiguration to the viaducts had been poorly com- municated and han- dled by the city. “I’m also sensi- tive to my col- leagues’ concerns about a process that, from this perspec- tive, hasn’t been ideal,” Mayor Pro Tem Jaime Resendez, one of the nine coun- cil members who voted against the proposal, said. “However, I’m not convinced that re- sponding to those shortcomings with a vote that would ultimately cause greater harm is the wisest world action.” While responding to fears of major dis- ruptions, Assistant City Manager Robin Bentley acknowledged that the process had been far from ideal. “We’re not closing anything, we’re not demolishing anything,” Bentley told council members. “There is no closure, we’re just rerouting traffic on a detour ramp, which will still provide the same access into down- town and the same access out of downtown, and I don’t think we’ve done a fabulous job as a staff of explaining that.” After the initial vote to deny the recom- mendation, Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Maxie Johnson made a motion to direct the city manager to engage with a consultant to im- prove plans for the reconfigured connec- tions coming off the viaducts. Community engagement will be a part of the process, City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert said before the council approved the motion. “We’ve got to start huddling up and roll- ing these things out in a way that the public understands it,” Zarin Gracey, District 3 council member, said. “It doesn’t feel nefari- ous; there’s no room for any accusations, and everyone feels like they were included in that. So that’s the fault here. It’s not the solutions; the solutions are coming. It’s how it was rolled out.” ▼ CRIME & PUNISHMENT ‘FIREARMS, FIREWORKS AND FELONIES EXTREME PRISON SENTENCES FOR ANTI-ICE PROTESTERS MAY HAVE CHILLING EFFECT. BY EMMA RUBY A group of North Texas protesters was sentenced to decades in prison last week for their involvement in a Fourth of July protest at an immigrant de- tention facility near Fort Worth last year, and already, First Amendment advocates and political organizers are warning that the case sets a dangerous new precedent for po- litical expression. Individuals who traveled to the Prairi- eland Detention Center last summer said the plan was originally to set off fireworks over the facility as a part of a noise demon- stration. In the end, though, one police offi- cer who responded to the assembly was shot and wounded. Nearly one year later, sentences ranging in length from 30 to 100 years have been handed down. They stem from charges of riot, providing material support to terrorists, firearms or explosives charges and at- tempted murder. All but one of the eight de- fendants were convicted on terrorism charges. One individual who was not at the protest but was convicted of concealing doc- uments after moving a box of political zines received a 30-year sentence. “I was worried that [the sentencing] was going to be pretty harsh, and I guess I was proven correct,” said Brinda Gurumoorthy, a co-chair of the North Texas chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America. “From the moment that I first heard about the case, and I think it was around the time that the federal government was talking about cracking down on left-wing organizations, I think that … the chilling effect has been in the works for a bit.” The Prairieland case has become a linch- pin in the conservative argument that left- wing violence is on the rise. Last September, President Donald Trump designated Emma Ruby Houston Street Viaduct faces rerouting to make way for a new convention center. >> p8 “IF WE ... GET THIS WRONG, WE’RE MAKING A DECISION THAT CANNOT BE UNDONE.” - CHAD WEST
