Downtown Dallas Pegasus horse: Repairs necessary, metropolis claims

DALLAS — An legendary piece of the Dallas skyline wants far more repairs, and they’ll be costly.

The Dallas Metropolis Council on Wednesday accredited up to $357,000 in repairs for the Pegasus indicator, which sits atop the Magnolia Building in downtown Dallas.

The substantial derricks that hold up the flying pink horse have turn out to be corroded, and city officials be concerned strong winds could cause the 15-ton fixture to fall.

Crews started operating on restoring the Pegasus past calendar year soon after the metropolis compensated the organization Phoenix I Restoration and Development $295,000 to assess the situation.

In March, the city gained an engineering report from Phoenix that “cited the urgent character of the repairs,” reported Benjamin Espino, the assistant director of the city’s arts and lifestyle business, which maintains the Pegasus and other town artwork residence.

Councilmember Adam Bazaldua questioned whether or not the city’s arts business office considered taking the Pegasus down, as a substitute of going as a result of high-priced repairs.

Espino stated the city’s choices ended up constrained soon after getting the engineering report.

“At this level, we did not definitely have any other solutions,” Espino explained to the council on Wednesday. “It is really seriously at a point out of corrosive disrepair. So we need to have to transfer ahead, given that it is a town asset and a really significant element of the general public artwork assortment.”

Bazaldua also asked Espino if the Magnolia Hotel — which functions the Pegasus in its marketing and advertising and on its site, together with a statue of the purple horse in its foyer — contributed to the value of the repairs. 

Espino stated the resort, which was ordered last calendar year by the hotel company NewcrestImage, is not contributing to the repairs. In its place, the town and the lodge are acquiring “preliminary discussions” about a long term partnership to aid retain the Pegasus, after the city pays for the repairs.

“So one more sweet offer for a corporate entity?” Bazaldua asked Espino.

“We’re on the lookout forward to conversations with them to see about a private-general public partnership to help retain this icon,” Espino responded.

Resort officers did not instantly react to WFAA’s request for comment.

Bazaldua proposed placing the situation on hold right up until the council could contemplate other options, but the council finally voted to approve the funding for the repairs.

Councilmember Tennell Atkins argued that the repairs, regardless of the costs, are really worth it due to the protection hazard of the Pegasus falling.

“I would truly feel sorry for myself if one thing occurred,” Atkins said during the council conference. “We’re sitting down here conversing about $300,000, and we’re talking about a billion-dollar budget. It’s nuts.”

The present-day Magnolia Pegasus, which is now surrounded by scaffolding because of to the repairs, was exposed on New Year’s Eve 1999, but it truly is been a mainstay in Dallas, and on the Magnolia, for extra than 80 decades.

The unique fixture was erected in 1934, when Magnolia Oil Co. owned the developing, which was Dallas’ very first skyscraper.

The structure’s neon lights finally unsuccessful in 1997, and it was taken down and refurbished to its latest state, in which it sits outdoors of the Omni Hotel downtown.

The new Pegasus at the Magnolia, although a lot more recent than the primary, stays an historic landmark, in accordance to the town.