|
|
Student Essay Contest
To celebrate National Preservation Month, May 2009, Preservation
Dallas launched the Restore-Reuse-Recycle: Essay Competition
for students, ages 8-15, in Public and Private Schools located within
the City of Dallas and the Park Cities. This program was made possible
by a grant from the Sprint Foundation.

After careful review and consideration it is our pleasure to announce
the winners of the competition.
- 1st Place (School) - St. Thomas Aquinas
- 1st Place (Instructor) - Susan Strandberg
- 1st Place - Allison Chaffin and
Tjaarda Plas-Nunez
- 2nd Place - Conlan Navin and
Nicholas Chatto
- Award of Merit - Ashley Austin,
Claudia Vlasminsky, Whitney Walker, and Claire Evans
1st and 2nd place winning Essays (click to view)
Allison Chaffin – Save
Crozier Tech!
Tjaarda Plas-Nunez - Crozier
Tech
Nicholas Chatto – What
Makes Dallas Different
Conlan Navin – This
Place Matters! Union Bankers Building
Awards Ceremony was held at the new Trinity River Audubon Center. On
June 22nd. The Trinity River Audubon Center is the flagship Center for
Audubon’s education and conservation initiatives in Texas.
Along with the winning essays, others submitted were of exceptional caliber
and demonstrated a clear grasp of the importance of preservation. Here
are some excerpts from other essays (Click
to view) |
PRESERVATION FEATURE |
A Success Worth
Celebrating
Our bold stand and courageous effort has brought success in saving
the Baldwin House at 6015 Bryan Parkway from demolition. And yet, the
greater success is having the house fully renovated and, more importantly,
retaining the history and fabric that is the Swiss Avenue Historic District.
This Craftsman style, four-square house was built in 1915 by Mary Louise
and Thomas Benjamin Baldwin, an Assistant Farm News Editor for the Dallas
Morning News and Semi-Weekly Farm News. The Baldwins new house was designed
to fit a lifestyle of writing and gardening. Espousing the value of
gardening, its cost effectiveness, and its great “mental pleasures”
Baldwin wrote, “In these strenuous times of high cost of living,
anything that tends to solve the problem of making both ends meet is,

at least, worthy of investigation.” After the death of Mr. Baldwin,
the house was advertised for rent in the Dallas Morning News: “Ten
Rooms-All Splendid Condition.” Perhaps due to the tough economic
times of the Great Depression,
|

|
the house sat vacant until 1932. That year, Dallas Fire Department
Master Mechanic, Loren M. Long and his wife Nellie, moved into the house
with their children.
By the late 1960’s, the Swiss Avenue neighborhood was in need
of revitalizing. In 1973, the Swiss Avenue Historic District was formed,
bound by Swiss, Fitzhugh, Sycamore, Live Oak and La Vista. This confirmed
this historic and architectural significance of the neighborhood and
gave the homeowners the confidence that the historic appearance of the
district would be maintained.
Since its designation, the neighborhood has been revitalized, becoming
the crown jewel of East Dallas. After sitting vacant for years, the
Baldwin House was purchased by speculative builders in 2004.
|
It was slated for demolition but was saved from the bulldozers at the
last minute, thanks to the efforts of preservationists and neighborhood
residents working alongside Preservation Dallas.
Preservation Dallas eventually persuaded the owners to sell the house,
beginning a multi-year renovation. Saving the Baldwin House has not
been an easy or inexpensive fight but it was well worth it. As we approach
the end of this home’s exciting saga, there are innumerable companies,
volunteers and private donors to thank. It certainly took the vision,
perseverance, initiative, knowledge and creativity of both Preservation
Dallas and the Swiss Avenue Historic District’s committee members
to see this project all the way to its successful fruition.
|
|
|
 Wilson Block
|
|
|
|
|