2018 August Oak Cliff

INSIDE

BEST OF OAK CLIFF

ARCHITECTURE AT RISK

GENTRIFICATION FROM A YOUTH PERSPECTIVE

OPENING REMARKS

By RICK WAMRE

The power of pessimism

For a long time, a friend liked his job. Then he loved it. Now he hates it.

Same job. Same boss. Same company. Not the same attitude.

Times change, as we all know. People change. Companies change.

Attitudes change, too.

I thought about this while reading an article in The New Yorker magazine about a university professor who teaches a course on pessimism.

Yes, you read that correct: Students are paying to take a course studying pessimism.

This guy’s theory is that “philosophy begins with disappointment” of two kinds: “The end is near” and “Will this never end?”

Now if you are like a lot of people these days, your mind probably runs to the national political situation, which from both sides of the aisle appears to be pretty stuck in muck. But no, the professor says, that’s not his point.

“To him,” the article says, “it doesn’t matter which Administration is in charge. ‘There’s always something to complain about,’ he said. ‘There has always been a one percent, there’s always been discrimination of people because of their race.’ ’’

So even if politics is the convenient excuse for today’s malaise, to the extent you feel that way, it’s not really a core problem for most of us. We have plenty of other things to worry about and live for, with politics registering on that scale but not tipping it one way or the other.

So how do you go from loving something one day to hating it the next, when to the naked eye, not much has really changed? And to what extent does pessimism impact a life?

It’s a favorite question of mine, and not because I’m enrolling in that college

class, either. It’s because it reminds me of a day from my past.

On a long-ago dreary and gray summer day, I went into a doctors’ office believing I had brain cancer. Thirty minutes later, I walked out of the office into bright, blinding sunlight knowing that I didn’t have cancer.

The day hadn’t changed in 30 minutes, nor had my health. But my attitude was radically different. To all other eyes, the heat and intensity of that typical Dallas summer day hadn’t changed one bit. But to my eyes, what had been dreary had become a bright light directly from heaven, guiding me down a gold-plated pathway.

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Weeks and weeks of worry melted away in seconds, even though nothing had actually changed.

Perspective is really a sixth sense, although we don’t give it the credit it deserves. Aristotle’s five senses of the human body — sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch — send measurable information to our brains for processing.

But perspective isn’t measurable. We like and don’t like, believe and don’t believe, hate and don’t hate what we want, sometimes regardless of the truth of the matter.

We like our jobs; we’re sick of them. We adore our friends; we loathe them. We respect ourselves; we hate us.

As with so many things, there can be a fine line between the two.

Rick Wamre is president of Advocate Media. Let him know how we are doing by emailing rwamre@advocatemag.com.

contributing photographers: Mei-Chun Jau, Kathy Tran, interns: Allaire Kruse, Grace Valentine, Ashleigh Ekwenugo, Judith Juarez

Advocate, © 2018, is published monthly by East Dallas – Lakewood People Inc. Contents of this magazine may not be reproduced. Advertisers and advertising agencies assume liability for the content of all advertisements printed, and therefore assume responsibility for any and all claims against the Advocate. The publisher reserves the right to accept or reject any editorial or advertising material. Opinions set forth in the Advocate are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the publisher’s viewpoint. More than 200,000 people read Advocate publications each month. Advertising rates and guidelines are available upon request. Advocate publications are available free of charge throughout our neighborhoods, one copy per reader. Advocate was founded in 1991 by Jeff Siegel, Tom Zielinski and Rick Wamre.

ABOUT THE COVER

The “igloo on Zang” originally was built as a hamburger stand in the 1930s. It housed Polar Bear ice cream shop for about 40 years. A couple of Mexican restaurants later occupied the building, which has been vacant for at least five years.

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Everything’s great today. I’m kind of worried about tomorrow, though.

“Perspective is really a sixth sense, although we don’t give it the credit it deserves.”

AUG. 2

FAMILY STYLE

A new locally produced documentary about Oak Cliff’s famous Vaughan brothers, Jimmie and Stevie Ray, premieres at 7:30 p.m. “From Nowhere” features interviews with Eric Clapton, Jackson Browne, Billy Gibbons, Nile Rodgers and Jimmie Vaughan. The Texas Theatre, 231 W. Jefferson Blvd., thetexastheatre.org, $12

AUG. 23

PUPS AND KITTIES

What is the world coming to? The Dallas Video Fest is adding dogs to its cat video festival this year, making it the “paw fest.” Cute and funny animal vids from 7-9 p.m., and a portion of the proceeds goes to animal charities.

The Texas Theatre, 231 W. Jefferson Blvd., thetexastheatre.org, $15

7 things to do in Oak Cliff this August

AUG. 5

KIDS IN THE CLIFF

This weekly book club for children starts at 11 a.m. Lanie DeLay reads two or three stories, and all ages are welcome.

The Wild Detectives, 314 W. Eighth St., thewilddetectives. com, free

AUG. 9-10

RAY WYLIE HUBBARD

This Texas troubadour, who was raised in Oak Cliff, plays a twonight stand with Lisa Morales opening the show.

The Kessler, 1230 W. Davis St., thekessler.org, $24

AUG. 11

HOT TROT

Run a half marathon, 10k or 5k and support the Assist the Officer Foundation. The Hot Trot Half starts at 7:30 a.m.

Continental Avenue Pedestrian Bridge, Beckley at Singleton, raceroster.com, $50$85

AUG. 19

HOT ROD MOVIE NIGHT

The Dallas Lowlifes Car Club sponsors a free movie screening at 7 p.m. Bring the kids, snacks and chairs and check out classic cars and scooters.

Tyler Station, 1300 S. Polk St., tylerstation.com, free

AUG. 25

JUAN GABRIEL FESTIVAL

Mercado369 celebrates beloved Mexican singer Juan Gabriel with a talent contest at the Texas Theatre from 4-6 p.m. Singers and musicians will perform Juan Gabriel songs, and the audience will choose their favorite to win $500 in cash. A free party at Mercado follows.

Mercado369, 369 W. Jefferson Blvd., mercado369.com, $5

LOVE, LOSS AND MOVING FORWARD

Story by RACHEL STONE

Photos by DANNY FULGENCIO

Andra Maldovan used to buy round-the-world airline tickets for her son, Keaton Newsom, and herself every summer.

They traveled to six continents, and they lived together in Singapore for more than seven years.

When they started planning their independent boutique hotel in the former Trinity Presbyterian Church on Zang, they envisioned that each of the 12 rooms would be themed after places they loved around the world, filled with furniture, art, weavings and textiles collected overseas.

That venture, Chijmes event center and hotel, is now a reality.

Maldovan, a designer who owns Keaton Interiors, appointed the rooms, which occupy former church classrooms and offices, to reflect her love for the cities that inspired them — Barcelona, Nairobi, Beijing.

The hotel rooms and the event center, which is inside the former church sanctuary, are perfect. They’re beautiful. They smell good. They’re quiet and filled with light.

What’s missing here is Keaton Newsom.

Maldovan’s only child, an accomplished athlete with friends all over the world, took his own life in February. He was 29.

Newsom’s memorial service in March was the first event held at Chijmes.

“He did suffer with depression and anxiety. He went to a lot of places for help,” Maldovan says. “And I don’t know what happened.”

They had worked on the hotel project together for a year and a half, and they walked the property the week before he died, she says.

Afterward, she picked herself up and kept working on Chijmes, but not without

“Nobody has a perfect life, but you take a step forward.”

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UP FRONT

the help of friends who came and stayed in her house and never left her alone. That’s another thing.

At the same time as this unimaginable tragedy, Maldovan also sold her Preston Hollow home and relocated to a one-story house in the Disney streets that better suits the needs of her mother.

All that while starting a hotel.

Randy Primrose of Magnolia Properties redeveloped the church, which was built in 1940 and is now on the streetcar line. The developer built Magnolia on Zang, 43 luxury apartments, on the property and initially intended to tear down the old church.

But City Councilman Scott Griggs pressured Primrose to keep the church intact, so he asked Maldovan, who designs interiors for Magnolia, to come take a look at it.

“As soon as I walked in, I said, ‘This is not a restaurant, this is a hotel,’ ”

Right: Andra Maldovan sits in the former church sanctuary that is Chijmes’ event center now. It has the original stained-glass windows from 1940.

Above: A view of the former sanctuary, which is set up as a lounge when not in use for weddings.

Top: One of the hotel’s 12 rooms, all of which are uniquely decorated based on inspiration from Maldovan’s travels.

Maldovan says. “He said, ‘Who’s going to do that?’ I think he thought I was crazy.”

Maldovan has created the type of hotel that she wants to stay in. This year she’ll visit Papua New Guinea, her 70th country. Everywhere she goes, she always looks for small hotels that have personal touches.

The Chijmes set up is ideal for weddings. But she also wants to book yoga retreats and women’s getaways.

Where some hotels offer a free newspaper, Chijmes slips a note under the door with positive words for the day. They sell “giving keys,” which are necklaces with repurposed keys engraved with a word, such as “courage.” The idea is to wear the necklace until you meet someone who you think needs that message and then give it to that person. There is a lock wall, where guests can ceremonially add a lock to symbolize their love or the memory of a loved one. The contractors who fabricated the wall surprised Maldovan by welding her son’s initials into it.

Maldovan’s son was a professional aggressive in-line skater when he was younger. At his memorial, every comment was about his kindness and generosity, Maldovan says. They had a Facebook live feed at the memorial because he had so many friends all over the world.

“Nobody has a perfect life, but you take a step forward,” she says. “With Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain, they had everything in our eyes. It’s different for every person, and it’s not just take a pill and forget it.”

Maldovan is incredibly positive, and she wants to do something — although she hasn’t yet figured out what exactly — to help people with mental health crises.

The suicide has affected everyone in her life. And everyone at Keaton Interiors, the company Maldovan named for her baby back in 1989, is grieving.

“It’s a very hard thing right now,” she says. “But I have to make it. A lot of people depend on me.”

chijmesdallas.com

Story by MIKE LUKAS | Photo by DANNY FULGENCIO

This big guy has been selling mufflers in Oak Cliff since the 1960s.

One interesting thing about the old Bud and Ben Mufflers in Oak Cliff is that there is no Ben.

It’s not that he’s dead — Ben was never alive in the first place.

Decades ago, the sign read, “Bud and Ken Mufflers,” named for two brothersin-law who were in business together selling mufflers. But in 1969, they parted ways.

Instead of throwing away the whole sign, though, frugal Lewis “Bud” Easdon switched Ken’s “K” to a “B” and thus Ben was born.

Another interesting thing about Bud and Ben Mufflers — now called Reyes Mufflers at 308 W. Illinois — has to do with the giant they employed to attract customers.

The Oak Cliff muffler man is made of fiberglass and stands about 25 feet tall. At one time there were hundreds of these guys across the country. They were made between 1960-1974 by a Venice, Calif.-based company called International Fiberglass.

It was based on a mold that also was used to make the “big friend” for Texaco, “the cowboy” for Phillips and the statue for Paul Bunyan Cafe in Flagstaff, Ariz. There was eventually even a towering “Miss Uniroyal” who came in two versions, wearing a dress or sporting a bikini.

The fiberglass statues cost between $1,800-$2,800 new, but today they’ve been known to fetch $15,000-$20,000.

Bud and Ben’s Muffler Man holds a humongous muffler, but their other American doppelgangers are all made to hold oversized versions of whatever their stores are selling: a roll of carpet, a pizza box, a tire or a plate of Mexican food. Or, as in the case of the Paul Bunyan, a colossal axe.

The Oak Cliff muffler man went up in 1965, inspired by the Kip’s Big Boy statue that was across the street at the time. The Kip’s building was torn down a few years ago and replaced with La Michoacana Meat Market.

IN

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FLOWERS FOR OAK CLIFF

Former Dallas city employee Gene Belk and his wife, Frances, opened Oak Cliff Floral Co. on East Colorado Boulevard in 1938.

The Belks convinced the landowner, an undertaker, to build the original 200-square-foot missionstyle structure on credit, repaying him $15 a month. Their business did so well that they bought the land in 1941 for $4,500. By 1948, they had poured $50,000 into the property, adding greenhouses, showrooms and living quarters. The Belks retired in 1975, and their daughter, Iris Smith, ran it until she moved the business to Rockwall in 2008.

Heritage Oak Cliff listed the building in its Oak Cliff At Risk list in 2014, and it’s still standing but has been vacant for 10 years.

Above photo by Danny Fulgencio.

SRV CRIB AVAILABLE

Story by RACHEL STONE

A piece of Oak Cliff rock ‘n’ roll history hit the market at $159,900 recently.

A real estate listing touts the childhood home of Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughan as “3 miles from Bishop Arts.”

The 1,100-square-foot, 2-bedroom, 1-bath home has new paint, a big backyard with covered patio and privacy fence, hardwood floors, and new heating. Besides that, the listing

states: “Gated parking with plenty of space in the front for the car enthusiast.”

The house on Glenfield Avenue is a couple of blocks from Oak Cliff Nature Preserve, not far from Kiest Park.

Jim and Martha Vaughan bought the house in the late 1950s, and she lived there for about 50 years. Stevie lived there until 1972, when he dropped out of Kimball High School and moved to Austin, following his brother, Jimmie.

WORKING THE ‘SYSTEM’

This Beckley hamburger joint is a roadside antique

By RACHEL STONE I

by KATHY TRAN

Photos

Single cheeseburgers from Wingfield’s require two hands. Opposite page: Wingfield’s occupies a prefabricated building from the mid-20th century.

At Wingfield’s, the burgers are thick and not too greasy.

A single cheeseburger is too much for the lightweight, although for $17, a bacon triple meat burger is available.

They’ll get your food cooking right away, but don’t expect fake friendliness from order takers or a place to sit, for that matter, although there’s a railing outside where you can stand and inhale your lunch or breakfast sandwich.

Richard Wingfield, a former DISD science teacher, opened the hamburger stand on South Beckley in 1986. At a time when residents and businesses were leaving Oak Cliff, Wingfield invested.

“I have to serve the same burger to the guy pushing the grocery cart selling tin cans as I did the mayor. And that was my whole mentality,” Wingfield told the Texas Bucket List in 2017.

This little burger joint also has an interesting architectural history.

Wingfield’s is in a mid-20th century prefabricated building known as a Valentine Diner.

Manufactured out of Wichita, Kansas, beginning in 1947 and named for founder Arthur Valentine, these buildings were meant to be “system”-style hamburger or breakfast cafes. One person could man the stand as cashier, server, cook and dishwasher with the eating counter and stools surrounding his station like a very tiny Metro Diner.

DID YOU KNOW: It’s best to call your order in and pick it up 10 minutes later.

Susan Melnick has been matching discerning sellers and home buyers for more than 30 years.

A longtime Kessler Park resident, she’s not only a really good neighbor, she and her team are thereal estate pros in North Oak Cliff. Call Susan at 214.460.5565. Email SMelnick@ virginiacook.com or visit SusanMelnick.com.

The buildings typically were purchased on credit, and earlier examples have a small wall safe just inside the door where operators would put a percentage of each day’s profits. A Valentine representative later made rounds to pick up the cash.

El Padrino No. 1 and the U Stop Fina, both on West Jefferson Boulevard, are Valentine Diners that have the safe. Those buildings started life as Rockyfeller System Hamburgers in the 1940s or ’50s. Wingfield’s doesn’t have the safe, which could date it to 1960 or later, according to the Kansas Historical Society.

Although the stools are gone, Wingfield’s is the only one of the three mentioned that still has its original counter and kitchen.

Wingfield’s is a humble burger dive, but it’s a piece of old Dallas whose delicious heavy lunches make Beckley a destination.

WINGFIELD’S BREAKFAST AND BURGER

Ambience: Hamburger stand

Price range: $7-$17

Hours: 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Saturday

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BEST F 2018

Oak Cliff neighbors know what we love. So when it came time to vote for our favorite places, from best spots to celebrate to top places to work out, thousands of Advocate readers weighed in over three weeks. Visit these winners and share your pictures on social media #OCBestOf2018 and visit oakcliff.advocatemag.com/best-of-2018.

Best of Culture

BEST PLACE TO RELAX

WINNER - KIDD SPRINGS PARK

RUNNERS-UP - LAKE CLIFF PARK

TWELVE HILLS NATURE CENTER

BEST PLACE FOR KIDS

WINNER - THE DALLAS ZOO RUNNERS-UP - KIDD SPRINGS PARK

NORTH OAK CLIFF LIBRARY

BEST LOCAL ATTRACTION

WINNER - BISHOP ARTS DISTRICT

RUNNERS-UP - THE KESSLER THEATER

KIEST PARK

BEST PLACE FOR LIVE MUSIC

WINNER - THE KESSLER THEATER RUNNERS-UP - THE TEXAS THEATRE THE FOUNDRY

BEST PLACE TO TAKE THE DOG WINNER - KIDD SPRINGS PARK RUNNERS-UP - KIEST PARK

TWELVE HILLS NATURE CENTER

BE ST OF

Best of Dining

BEST BRUNCH

WINNER - NORMA’S CAFÉ

RUNNERS-UP - JED’S GRILL

JONATHON’S OAK CLIFF

BEST COFFEE

WINNER - HOUNDSTOOTH COFFEE

RUNNERS-UP - DAVIS STREET ESPRESSO ODDFELLOWS

BEST LUNCH SPOT

WINNER - HUNKY’S

RUNNERS-UP - DALLAS GRILLED CHEESE CO. CHEESESTEAK HOUSE

BEST NIGHT OUT

WINNER - EL RANCHITO

RUNNERS-UP - HATTIE’S STOCK & BARREL

BEST BAR/COCKTAILS

WINNER - BOLSA AND NOVA (TIE)

RUNNERS-UP - SMALL BREWPUB THE LOCAL OAK

BEST TACOS

WINNER - TAQUERÍA EL SI HAY

RUNNERS-UP - TACODELI CESAR’S TACOS

BEST PIZZA

WINNER - ENO’S PIZZA TAVERN

RUNNERS-UP - HOME RUN PIZZA CIBO DIVINO

BEST BURGER

WINNER - HUNKY’S

RUNNERS-UP - JED’S GRILL OFF-SITE KITCHEN

BEST DESSERT

WINNER - EMPORIUM PIES

RUNNERS-UP - COCOANDRÉ CHOCOLATIER CRETIA’S

BEST WINE LIST

WINNER - BISHOP ARTS WINERY

RUNNERS-UP - NEIGHBORHOOD CELLAR

BOULEVARDIER

BEST ASIAN FOOD

WINNER - BBBOP SEOUL KITCHEN

RUNNERS-UP - ZEN SUSHI

PHO 88

BEST MEXICAN FOOD

WINNER - LA CALLE DOLCE

RUNNERS-UP - EL RANCHITO

GONZALEZ RESTAURANT

BEST HEALTHY BITE

WINNER - ANN’S HEALTH FOOD

CENTER & MARKET

RUNNERS-UP - JUICELAND

TRIBAL ALL DAY CAFE

BEST PATIO

WINNER - GLORIA’S

RUNNERS-UP - THE FOUNDRY TEN BELLS TAVERN

BEST PLACE TO CELEBRATE

WINNER - LUCIA

RUNNERS-UP - HATTIE’S TILLMAN’S ROADHOUSE

BEST KID-FRIENDLY RESTURANT

WINNER - JED’S GRILL

RUNNERS-UP - NORMA’S CAFE CHICKEN SCRATCH

BEST PLACE TO WATCH THE GAME

WINNER - JED’S GRILL

RUNNERS-UP - PHD 303 GRILL

Best of Services

BEST HOME AND GARDEN

WINNER - HOME ON BISHOP

RUNNERS-UP - BISHOP STREET MARKET LULA B’S

BEST PET SERVICES

WINNER - GREEN PET

RUNNERS-UP - OAK CLIPS

BONES AND BACON PET RESORT

BEST PLACE TO WORK OUT

WINNER - JONATHAN’S PRIVATE TRAINING STUDIO

RUNNERS-UP - EDGE GROUP FITNESS PLANET FITNESS

BEST GIFT SHOP

WINNER - BISHOP STREET MARKET

RUNNERS-UP - HOME ON BISHOP FETE-ISH

BEST FLORAL SHOP

WINNER - DIRT FLOWERS

RUNNERS-UP - GLORIA’S FLOWERS I LOVE ROSES

BEST NAIL/ SALON

WINNER - PINK PEDI

RUNNERS-UP - HOLLY NAIL

D&J NAILS

BEST PLACE TO GET PAMPERED

WINNER - YAYA FOOT SPA

RUNNERS-UP - SKIN AND BODY

SOLUTIONS DAY SPA

URBAN HIPPIE

CHIROPRACTICS

The Soul of a neighborhood

Our list of the six most-endangered places in Oak Cliff

Story by RACHEL STONE , ALICIA QUINTANS and MICHAEL AMONETT

Photos by DANNY FULGENCIO

ometimes neighbors come together to preserve a piece of historic Oak Cli .

The Texas Theatre, for example. Twelve Hills Nature Center.

Thankfully, there also are realestate investors who see the value in historic buildings — Je erson Tower, Top Ten Records, Spinster Records and the Belmont Hotel are shining today because of them.

Grassroots e orts and sensitive developers keep a vein of old Oak Cli alive.

But we’re outmanned and outmoneyed by investment funds,

townhome builders and ever-looming big development. About four reviews come through the City of Dallas every week for old buildings that people want to demolish in the Bishop Arts area and Downtown Dallas. That’s according to Mark Doty, the city’s chief planner for historic preservation.

It’s now part of Doty’s job to decipher which buildings should trigger a 45-day stay of execution under the rules of a new historic overlay that delays some demolitions within its boundaries.

Demolition and dramatic new construction are reshaping Oak Cli at a terribly fast rate.

In a reaction adopted from Preservation Dallas, we o er this list, Oak Cli At Risk.

Heritage Oak Cli and the Advocate cooperated to identify places that we think are at high risk for demolition — either immediately or through a futurist lens — but are worthy of historic preservation.

We hope to draw attention to the history, architecture and cultural values of our neighborhood and start a conversation about what we can and should preserve in this climate of constant target.

Wynnewood Vi age

The new owners of Wynnewood Village plan to renovate some of the shopping center’s buildings, reconfigure the driveways and add a movie theater and a gym.

The owner, Brixmor Property Group, intends to keep parts of the property intact and make overall improvements. In June City Council approved spending $2.4 million to upgrade the shopping center’s storm drainage system.

Brixmor also has pitched tearing parts of Wynnewood down — they already demolished a 1965 bank building.

Buildings that could be demolished include an old Texaco station and the former Goff’s Charcoal Hamburgers building that is now a laundromat.

The hamburger joint’s owner, Harvey Gough, at one time owned nine Goff’s in the Dallas area. Gough was running Harvey’s Charcoal Hamburgers in Preston Hollow until this past January. He’s a cantankerous Dallas character, infamous for yelling at customers and his refusal to serve males who had long hair during the Vietnam War era.

The last of the Goff’s stores is still operating near SMU.

Several interesting buildings have been demolished at Wynnewood throughout the years, including the Wynnewood Hotel and an office building, both designed by original Wynnewood

1947-1954

Village architects DeWitt and Swank.

A standalone Sears store and the Wynnewood Theater also have been lost to demolition.

Wynnewood was a regional shopping destination until Red Bird Mall was built in the 1970s.

“The DeWitt and Swank design was cutting-edge, and the layout of the center made it highly successful until the shopping mall rose in prominence,” says David Preziosi of Preservation Dallas.

As Wynnewood Village receives attention and renewal, we hope it doesn’t lose its original character and design.

El Fenix on Colorado 1948

If your junior high club had its year-end banquet at El Fenix on Colorado, you might be from Oak Cliff.

The restaurant at 120 E. Colorado Blvd. was the second El Fenix location, opening 30 years after the original on McKinney Avenue.

When the restaurant’s “fiesta room” opened in 1952 it quickly answered a need for party space.

The Lion’s Club hosted their annual fundraising party there that year. And just about every other professional and extra-curricular club in Dallas met there through the 1950s and ’60s. There were wedding showers and rehearsal dinners galore.

Legendary Oak Cliff singer/songwriter Ray Wylie Hubbard had his very first gig there while still a student at Adamson High School.

El Fenix founder Miguel Martinez Sr., known as Mike, had an inspirational immigration story. He started driving mules in his hometown in Nuevo Leon, Mexico at age 7. After moving to Dallas in 1911, he washed dishes at a Downtown hotel for

14 years, even after he started El Fenix in 1918. His eight children took over the restaurant business in the 1940s, and Martinez paid for a plaza, roads, electricity and wells in his hometown, now part of Villaldama.

The Martinez family sold El Fenix to Firebird Restaurant Group for a reported $30 million in 2008. Since then, the company has expanded to include at least 22 locations in North Texas.

The location on Colorado is on the Oak Cliff streetcar line and across the street from Methodist Dallas Medical Center, which recently demolished the Vet Stop building, a former diner on Colorado at Beckley Avenue.

Atlas Metalworks 1929

When Dallas built the first levees to protect the city center from flooding in the 1920s, it opened up thousands of acres of real estate to development in West Dallas.

Atlas Metal Works was among the first to capitalize on that. The manufacturer’s original 1904 location had been at Young and Marilla, near the current Dallas City Hall. By 1922, Atlas was one of the biggest steel and iron mills in the country, manufacturing culvert pipe, grain storage silos, stock tanks and water cisterns that were shipped all over the country. A new plant on Eagle Ford Road, now Singleton Boulevard, was built in 1929. The original West Dallas complex comprised 40,000 square feet on 7 acres that included its own railroad trackage. It also includes a 1929 office building of concrete tile and stucco. The factory was constructed of Atlas metal to be “fireproof, ventilated and lighted according to modern engineering,” according to reports from the time it was built. Another 11,000 square feet was added during

World War II.

At the time of the move to West Dallas, Oak Cliff developer Leslie A. Stemmons was the company president. But the Storey family was its originator. Millard Storey cofounded the company, and his sons Millard and Boude started working there in about 1908.

Boude Storey eventually became company president, and he made a name for himself as a community leader. A World War II veteran, Boude Storey grew up on Swiss Avenue and graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School and what is now Rice University. He served on the Dallas board of education for nine years, including six as president. When the first junior high was built in Oak Cliff, the community easily decided to give it his name.

Storey died at age 78 in 1959, four years after his brother Millard. He had served Atlas for 51 years. His son, also named Boude Storey, ran the company after him.

The plant remains in use as a metal factory, which is still in the same family.

Atlas sold part of its acreage, where Trinity Green Luxury Apartments and Homes is now, a few years ago.

While thousands of new apartment units and luxury townhomes open in West Dallas, Atlas Metal Works stands as an architecturally significant remnant of West Dallas’ industrial past.

Freedman ’s Town 1870s-1900s Tenth Street Historic District

Robert Swann grows emotional when he talks about his 122-year-old house, its story and the neighborhood into whose fabric it is woven.

A highly skilled carpenter named Richard J. Moore, the son of freed slaves, built the 720-square-foot house in what is now the Tenth Street Historic District, in 1896.

Swann jumped through hoops for most of a decade to buy the abandoned house from the city of Dallas in 2016. If he hadn’t, the city likely would’ve demolished it.

This neighborhood just east of Interstate 35 and south of Eighth Street is part of the original Oak Cliff and was known as “Miller’s Four Acres.” The former slaves of cotton plantation owner William Brown Miller began settling there shortly after the end of the Civil War.

Freedmen who migrated from Alabama, the Boswell family, began buying lots and building homes there in 1888. The neighborhood had a school, two churches and small businesses among the 300 or so houses.

In some places, such as Winnetka Heights, “historic district” means that buildings cannot be torn down. At the very least, tearing down a house in a historic district ought to be very, very difficult.

Not so in Tenth Street, one of the nation’s few remaining freedmen’s towns.

A passage in the city of Dallas development code states that homes in historic districts can be

“The beauty of Tenth Street is that it tells the most under-told story of the African-American experience, and that’s Jim Crow.”

demolished by court order if they comprise less than 3,000 square feet and are a “nuisance.”

The city approves demolitions in the neighborhood with ease, Swann says. Because of that statute, little can be done to stop or even delay the destruction.

“It’s de facto discrimination because we don’t have any structures in Tenth Street that exceed 3,000 square foot,” says Swann, who serves on the city’s Landmark Commission. “What’s really upsetting is that these houses are rushed through demolition before they’re even offered at tax sale.”

Many Tenth Street houses were handed down through generations. Let’s say your aunt dies at age 90, and no relative claims her house. Someone boards it up, and it’s forgotten. There’s no clear heir, and the house falls into title limbo.

Consider 1105 E. Ninth St.

The Landmark Commission gave the house at that address a 30-day reprieve from demolition on July 2, after a court order was granted.

This park-facing cottage three miles from Downtown is 107 years old and has been vacant for about 12 years. It has a cloudy

LEFT: A Tenth Street Historic District house that the city is moving to demolish. BELOW: Most of the homes in Tenth Street comprise less than 1,000 square feet, but there are a few exceptions. BOTTOM: The Elizabeth

title, but the city could foreclose on it for delinquent taxes, sell it at auction and hopefully get it back on the Dallas County tax rolls.

Instead, they’re moving to demolish it.

Tearing down the house does nothing to clear up the title, Swann says, and it decreases the property’s taxable value by half.

Besides that, the city has to foot the bill for demolition and maintenance of the vacant lot.

The Ninth Street house is a perfect example of the neighborhood’s history, Swann says.

It was built in 1911 by William Smith, the son of freed slaves, and it stayed in Smith’s family until 2005, when the resident died.

“It has stood for 107 years, and it’s been vacant for at least 12 years, and now we’re talking about being able to remove the nuisance ‘in a timely manner,’ ” he says.

Some longtime neighborhood residents would like to see the neighborhood become a livinghistory museum akin to Colonial Williamsburg.

In American history, we talk about slavery, and we talk about the civil rights era.

“The beauty of Tenth Street is that it tells the most under-told story of the African- American experience, and that’s Jim Crow,” Swann says.

Tenth Street will be affected when a deck park is built over Interstate 35. Whether it damages the neighborhood or lifts it up will be a test for the city of Dallas.

Tenth Street neighbors envision the Dallas Zoo, the deck park and their historic freedmen’s town living together as a greater cultural campus.

In the meantime, Swann wants to find a way to exempt Tenth Street and Wheatley Place, a historic African-American neighborhood in South Dallas, from the 3,000-square-foot rule.

The 720-square-foot castle that he’s restoring stands as a tribute to the triumphs of the people who lived there.

“A lot of people see these houses and they see poverty,” Swann says. “No, that’s building wealth.”

Chapel CME was built in 1910 and was the focal point of Tenth Street until it was demolished in 1996.

Stevens Park Shopping Center

Annie Stevens practiced sensible development.

1939

As president of her family company, she developed Stevens Park Village in the late 1930s.

She and her brother donated 110 acres to the city of Dallas for Stevens Park in memory of their parents. The parkland, now Stevens Park Golf Course, had previously been part of their farm.

On acreage surrounding what is now Colorado and Fort Worth Avenue, Stevens developed homes and a shopping center.

That little shopping center, on the curve of Colorado between Hampton and Fort Worth Avenue, was built on the Mustang/La Reunion trolley line for $250,000 in 1939.

They served the neighborhood with shops and services, and the buildings fit in with the one-story limestone homes of Stevens Park Village.

In 1943, the government built Mustang Village, a complex of one-story apartments for veterans, on the southwest corner of what is now Fort Worth Avenue and Colorado.

Those were demolished in the late 1950s, when the two-story brick Stevens Village apartments — later called Colorado Place — were built.

A development company demolished Colorado Place apartments in 2009

but then ran out of cash, and the land sat vacant until 2016 when Lincoln Property Co. bought it.

Lincoln built a luxury apartment complex that backs up to the golf course. And they recently completed a retail complex fronting Fort Worth Avenue and Colorado.

Across Fort Worth Avenue, Centre Living Homes is building about 60 luxury townhomes.

Original pieces of the Stevens Park shopping center, in the 1100 block of Colorado, are not on the market, and there are not immediate plans for redevelopment.

But as Fort Worth Avenue continues to be built out with new multifamily and retail developments, this understated shopping center could be lost.

The Inn of the Dove 1940

About 100,000 cars passed through Dallas in the first six months of 1924, and all of them funneled through Oak Cliff along the Fort Worth Turnpike.

Also known as U.S. Highway 80, the turnpike was built as part of the federally funded Bankhead Highway, which ran from San Diego, Calif., to Washington, D.C.

Once automobile traffic came, businesses followed — service stations, auto mechanics, car dealerships, restaurants and motels.

The Belmont Hotel was among them, and several other old motels with architectural and historical value are still standing as well.

Take the Inn of the Dove.

In the era of Jim Crow, it was the only motel on the Fort Worth Pike that was friendly to African Americans.

The motel, which still operates on Fort Worth Avenue a couple of blocks from the Belmont, opened in 1940 as the Triple R Ranch.

From 1957-1961, it was listed in the Negro Travelers’ Green Book, an annual guidebook for African-American road trippers.

Traveling by car during Jim Crow could be perilous for black people. Besides the threat of harassment or arrest, African Americans often were refused food and lodging as well. The Green Book offered a convenient list of available services.

Since the Green Acres motel in Deep Ellum was demolished in 2017, this might be the only Green Book motel left standing in Dallas.

By BRENT MCDOUGAL

Who is cheering for you?

We all need encouragement

When summer comes I often think about my grandmother, Mimi. She grew up in Mobile, Alabama, and married my grandfather, a grocer. They saved a little money to buy a small place on Mobile Bay, where I spent my summers. As I recently sat on my porch in Dallas, listening to the cicadas and looking up at the clouds, I swear I was transported back for a moment to the salty air, briar stickers, brackish water and gentle breeze of the bay. I loved those days, but mostly because Mimi was in the middle of to all.

Mimi told me frequently, “Every day I pray that the angels would watch over you.” Her voice always spoke love. I was her favorite. The other grandchildren knew it. I will never forget her daily prayer for me. Now I think of her as the one watching over me, cheering me on, smiling down. Proud.

We all need people like that — people who love us unconditionally and always see the good in us. We need people in the stands as we run life’s race. The writer of Hebrews puts it like this: “Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us.” (Hebrews 12:1) When we know we are surrounded and celebrated, we can grow better. We can keep going.

Who’s in your cloud, past and present? In my past, I think of my other grandfather, a preacher, my father who died way too young, and elders in churches where I have served. In my present, there is my wife, Jen, son, Christopher, and daughter, Emmy. There are friends like David and Mindi and Mark; mentors like Weston and Os; colleagues from work.

Who cheers you on? Lord knows we need people like that. Life can be so dis-

couraging. E.E. Cummings said, “To be nobody-but-yourself — in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else — means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight.” It’s not easy to keep going sometimes. It takes strength to say, “This is what I believe,” or “This is what I don’t believe.” It takes courage to open your mouth and say something.

WORSHIP

BAPTIST

CLIFF TEMPLE BAPTIST CHURCH / 125 Sunset Ave. / 214.942.8601

Serving Oak Cliff since 1898 / CliffTemple.org / English and Spanish

9 am Contemporary Worship / 10 am Sunday School / 11 am Traditional

ROYAL LANE BAPTIST CHURCH / 6707 Royal Lane / 214.361.2809

Christian Education 9:45 a.m. / Worship Service 10:55 a.m. Pastor - Rev. Dr. Michael L. Gregg / www.royallane.org

DISCIPLES OF CHRIST

EAST DALLAS CHRISTIAN CHURCH / 629 N. Peak Street / 214.824.8185

Sunday School 9:30 am / Worship 8:30 am - Chapel

10:50 am - Sanctuary / Rev. Deborah Morgan-Stokes / edcc.org

METHODIST

GRACE UMC / Diverse, Inclusive, Missional Sunday School for all ages, 9:30 am / Worship, 10:50 am 4105 Junius St. / 214.824.2533 / graceumcdallas.org

NON-DENOMINATIONAL

KESSLER COMMUNITY CHURCH / 2100 Leander Dr. at Hampton Rd. “Your Hometown Church Near the Heart of the City.”

10:30 am Contemporary Service / kesslercommunitychurch.com

If I feel afraid or lonely or confused, I sometimes ask, “What would all of these people, past and present, say about what I’m feeling and experiencing?” They likely would say, “It’s not as bad as you think.” I believe they would say, “You are not alone and you are loved, in spite of the junk and the flaws of your life.”

Thank the people who make up the cloud of your life. Don’t neglect them. Say what you need to say. And remember that you’re in someone else’s cloud too. There may be nothing more important that you do with your life.

Brent McDougal is pastor of Cliff Temple Baptist Church. The Worship section is a regular feature underwritten by Advocate Publishing and by the neighborhood business people and churches listed on these pages. For information about helping support the Worship section, call 214.560.4202.

Who cheers you on? Lord knows we need people like that.

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Generation Z versus gentrification

A 17-year-old confronts a beloved neighborhood changing around her

By JUDITH JUAREZ

Driving down Jefferson Boulevard, a person could start to feel like an outsider in her own city. Southwest Center Mall is being renovated. New restaurants and apartment buildings go up. The development of Bishop Arts creeps towards the heart of Oak Cliff, Jefferson.

Oak Cliff is changing rapidly and sending some longtime residents adrift. In the midst of these tear-downs and highrises, it’s easy to forget the families who lived in the buildings before.

Through the changes, there is a generation who saw it all unfold. What do kids who have grown up in Oak Cliff think of gentrification? We polled these five rising high school seniors to find out.

“We need to support the local businesses that we still have.”

CARLOS CORTEZ, 17, has lived in south Oak Cliff his whole life.

“There’s a lot more housing available. The affordable part is the point that gets lost in translation. There’s always something being torn down.” Cortez describes Little Mexico, now Uptown, as an example of what Oak Cliff could become. “I think any time a bridge or any new methods of transportation is made more convenient, that’s always gonna be a problem for people who’ve already lived there.”

“I see more houses getting built that are nicer than the houses around me.”

ANGELICA VEGA, 14, has lived in north Oak Cliff for 14 years.

“Social media makes it seem like our neighborhood is so pretty and such a nice place to live in, so more people want to live here.”

Vega’s parents’ house in the Bishop Arts area receives frequent offers from real-estate investors even though the family says they do not wish to sell.

“They usually talk about how we have a good placement in the neighborhood,” Vega says. “And they offer benefits like money and how they could easily give us cash.”

With rising prices in her neighborhood, Vega is bleak about the future. She says she doubts she’d ever be able to buy near her parents when she’s older: “There’s a house on my street that we wanted to show to my cousin. She couldn’t afford it.”

“These families … stay because they don’t have the money to go anywhere else.”

ROSILDA AMEZQUITA, 17, who has lived in Cockrell Hill her whole life.

Jefferson Boulevard is a hot-spot for culture but Amezuita says she fears for the future. “All these quinceañera businesses that have always been there. The fruterias or paleterias are all leaving because they can’t afford to rent there.”

“All these quinceañera businesses that have always been there … the fruterias or paleterias are all leaving because they can’t afford to rent there.”

BISHOP DUNNE CATHOLIC SCHOOL

Contact: Brian Muth at 214. 339.6561 or admissions@bdcs.org.

A co-educational, college preparatory school serving students in grades 6-12. We provide a strong faith and valuebased education with high academic standards, encouraging all students to achieve their full potential. Our curriculum emphasizes individualized attention, and is constantly at the forefront of technology integration through the use of laptops, ebooks, and our Online Education Program. Additionally, we provide a full range of extracurricular activities ranging from athletics, to the arts, to clubs and service organizations.

A

Place Where Everybody Knows Your Name.

“We shouldn’t have to displace hundreds of families just because we want the city to look nicer.”

JUAN DIAZ, 17, who has lived in north Oak Cliff his whole life.

“We have to consider whether [shoving out] hundreds of people from the places they’ve been living their whole lives is worth fixing a couple of streets or making the city look nicer.”

Diaz’s parents also have recieved multiple unsolicited offers on their house. “My parents were able to afford [a house] and I’m pretty sure it was for less than $100,000, but now I’m sure that they could sell the house and get over $100,000.”

“As it is cheap for them, it becomes expensive for others.”

CITLALLI LOPEZ, 17, has lived in Oak Cliff for 12 years.

“It’s scary because I would hate to see a loss of culture within the Oak Cliff area,” she says.

Lopez and classmates made a documentary called “Gentrification in Oak Cliff.” She blames gentrification for the destruction of culture and displacement of families. She believes facilitated transportation leads to gentrification. “Little Mexico in the Uptown area didn’t start to become gentrified until after they placed the tollway right there,” she says.

Some of her family’s friends have moved to areas such as Duncanville because they could no longer afford to live in Oak Cliff. Lopez’s neighborhood near Kiest Park is seeing changes as well. The house right next to hers was torn down and replaced with a house she described as looking “nothing like the other houses surrounding it.”

Judith Juarez is a senior at Irma Rangel Young Women’s Leadership School and an intern at Advocate magazines.