Day by day the Pace House looks more like a home and less like a meeting place

Day by day, week by week, the Pace House is being transformed from a public events center back to its original role as a single-family residence.

Walking through the house this afternoon, I marveled that two bedrooms (both with closets) that have been carved out of what had been a large meeting room are nearly finished and the tiny pass-through kitchen for the community center has been expanded into a perfect-sized kitchen for full-time occupants--even spacious enough to fit in a breakfast table.

This week's schedule includes:

1. Painting the enlarged kitchen and installing its dishwasher and countertops. Maybe just maybe, we can even get the new kitchen floor installed, too.

2.  Finishing the plumbing in the king-sized and the half bathrooms. We literally had to rip out everything in the "men's" and "women's" restrooms in the events center and start all over with the space. Our architect came up with a great design with one enormous bathroom and one small half bath.

With the April 11 Heritage Day fast approaching, we're starting to think about what's tops on our priority list for that event. Having a fully functioning bathroom for our tour hosts and hostesses is at the top of the list.

For the crowds who will be in our neighborhood that day from noon to 5 p.m. to tour the five historic open houses on our street, including the Pace House, and the dedication at 3 p.m. of Travis College Hill's new Texas Historical Marker, the City of Garland is graciously providing a high-quality portable restroom complete with real sinks and all.

We will even have a giant 30-by-50 tent set up in front of the Pace House and in front of the new neighborhood Texas Historical Marker. The tent will seat 200 comfortably.

In 1985-86, as part of the City of Garland's Texas Sesquicentennial celebration, the turn-of-the-century Queen Anne-inspired Garland residence was remodeled from a family home into a meeting place where weddings, bridal showers, anniversaries, and other social and political events were celebrated. Now, almost two years after the city decided it no longer needed the historic facility and five months after we obtained ownership, the house is being returned to its original purpose. The Pace House will be re-dedicated as part of the April 11 ceremony.

It's going to be a glorious day! But until then, for me it will be paint, hammer, drive to Home Depot and back, then paint, hammer and drive to Home Depot and back again!

Please join us on Saturday afternoon, April 11, to witness the transformation of this historical beauty.

Saga of church's dumpster shows the difference between institutionalized religion and doing unto others as Jesus taught

Nine years. Nine long years.

That's the number of years since I first sat down at the dais for my inaugural Garland Plan Commission meeting as a city-appointed representative from District 2. At that time, my colleague and friend, Stan Luckie, the at-large representative on the Plan Commission, leaned over to me and asked softly, "When are you and your neighbors going to do something about that illegal dumpster in the MAC parking lot at First Baptist Church?"

"You mean that dumpster really IS illegal?" I replied. I had been studying that dumpster for several years and wondering—

* why is it situated so close to our neighborhood;
* why does it look so ugly and smell so bad;
* who allowed it to be placed in that location in the first place;
* why wasn't it placed in the proper enclosure the city requires of all dumpsters situated near residential neighborhoods; and
* why did city garbage trucks that emptied it always arrive so early in the mornings six days a week and make so much noise, especially on Saturday mornings, when we and our neighbors were trying to sleep?

Thus began an odyssey that is almost too unbelievable (and embarrassing) to write about, except that it is true. Such a simple thing as getting that church dumpster properly housed in a legal, gated and locked enclosure (the same requirement as made of other commercial entities in Garland) should never have taken nine long years. But it did. And along the way I learned more about the politics of a neighboring church and our city—and their strange dance together—than I ever cared to learn.

Thinking it would be a simple matter to get the dumpster either removed or placed in a legal structure, shortly after Stan made his comment I conferred with my City Councilwoman at that time, Laura Perkins Cox, of District 2. Perky, as we all called her, dutifully raced over to our neighborhood, took pictures of the dumpster, and made a few notes about it. Of course the unprotected dumpster was illegal and violated city code, she said. She promised to get the matter taken care of promptly.

A few weeks later after nothing had happened, Perky rather quietly told me the matter was taking longer than she had expected and that she was running into more opposition than she had anticipated.

I firmly believe the whole matter boiled down to two basic issues:

1. City personnel were scared to confront this particular church about a wrongdoing.
2. The church didn't want to listen to anyone trying to tell it that it had done something wrong.

Complicating the matter is the kingmaker role that First Baptist Garland has played for many years in Garland city politics. For too many decades to recount, many Garland politicians (mayor and city council wannabe's) believed the myth that they couldn't get elected without the blessings of First Baptist. Such was—and still is—the exaggerated political clout of this one congregation.

Also complicating the matter was the fact that many of the city's employees are good, solid Christian, church-going, God-fearing men and women who truly want to believe the best about a church and about people. I'm glad the city hires these kinds of workers , but . . . sometimes this kind of blind adoration can cause a church's shortcomings to be overlooked and excused.

Churches are finite institutions composed of human beings capable of error. Certainly the U.S. constitution gives individuals freedom to worship as they please. But that freedom doesn't give a church the right to impose a health and safety nuisance on its neighbors. Freedom of religion has no greater champion than I am. But just being a church doesn't by any means give it a pass on health, safety, and building codes and any other laws established to protect the public good and which must be honored by all citizens in a city.

In my professional career as a journalist who spent decades writing about organized religion in every form, I have seen many church institutions up close. I have never lost my faith in God despite my seeing the warts of many houses of worship of all stripes. My wife and I are believers, regular church attenders, and contributors. But I am certainly glad that long ago I learned the difference between faith in God Almighty and the actions of institutionalized religion! They definitely are not one and the same.

Finally, one city department head took up the gauntlet. He may have been motivated by some pictures I took of uninvited individuals prowling inside the church's dumpster—throwing Christmas ornaments, papers, and even an old printer on to the sidewalk and street and then hauling off materials, leaving trash in their wake. The pictures clearly showed that the open and ungated dumpster was luring an unwanted element to the neighborhood. It also was allowing litter to blow into the neighborhood and create a nuisance for nearby homes. Whatever it was, I'm grateful that finally after nine years someone was able to muster the courage to stand up and say flatly, "This is wrong! This is not being a good neighbor. This will not continue. The church will become law-abiding. This church will abide by the same set of standards as is required for everyone else in Garland including other churches." How I and our neighbors deeply appreciate this city department and this man and his associates who firmly pursued this matter day after day despite all obstacles.

Sadly, the church dragged its heels to the bitter end. On the last hour of the last day before the city was set to move legally against the church, a church leader agreed to do the right thing. But even then, the foot-dragging continued. Though the church is busy planning a $22-million building expansion, the leader is reported to have said he didn't know a contractor who could build the legally required shelter for the dumpster. At that point the city produced a list of six contractors and basically instructed him, "Pick one!"

I am really proud of this city employee, who under the special encouragement of current District 2 Councilmember Anita Goebel, deserves a special commendation for his courage, skill, ethics, and sense of rightness. I've chosen not to name him publicly, because as I have seen, institutionalized religion doesn't always do the right thing to people that hold it accountable.

Maybe, just maybe, someone wanting to defend the unChristian attitude we encountered for nine long years will remember two basic teachings of Christ:

1. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

2. Love your neighbor as yourself.

Every year this particular church tosses a cookout advertised as being for the community. It invites neighbors surrounding the church and others for an evening of complimentary burgers and the trimmings. This is commendable, but it can come across as merely shallow window-dressing when the church doesn't take responsibility for its actions that damage its neighbors just one block away.

Today, after all this wrangling, an attractive, compliant dumpster enclosure that is an asset to the church and a much better witness to its neighbors is almost ready for use. Yesterday workers poured the final concrete needed for the structure. Now only gates and a proper lock remain to be added.

But the question lingers: Why, oh why, did it take so long?

Waiting for the concrete to dry. Then more yet to do!

All 56 piers now have been filled with concrete. We are waiting for them to dry. Because of the cold weather our contractor said "to be on the safe side" we need to wait until Monday (Nov. 17) or Tuesday (Nov. 18).

Two iron rods protrude about a foot above ground out of each pier. This is definitely not a place where anyone except the workers would want to walk, especially at night!

Next, the forms have to be put in place to pour the concrete for the beams, leaving a pathway for the truck and tire wheels which will pass over everything to position the house. The contractor said he also will have to "bend" the iron rods on the path the truck and tire wheels will move, then straighten them back up after the house is in place.

This next phase definitely will be rather complicated! But also lots of fun to watch. Glad we can stand at our bedroom window and from the warmth of the house watch all that is going on next door.

"Drill, baby, drill!"

Despite the frigid temperatures, "them Rogers boys", as their sign says, are busy drilling the final holes for the 56 piers on which our newly acquired Pace House will sit.

Some piers vary in depth but most are at least 8-feet deep—a far better and more expensive foundation than the bois d'arc posts on which the house and most of Garland's oldest homes were originally built.

Several houses in the Garland's Travis College Hill Historic District still have at least some, if not all, of their original bois d'arc foundation posts, which have survived nearly 100 years.

The crew expects to finish all the drilling and have the iron bars inserted into the holes by noon today.

Next: inspections. Then: filling the holes with concrete. After that we move to Phase 2: concrete beams and Phase 3: the moving and final lowering of the house.

Nothing easy or inexpensive about this project!

UPDATE: At 3:30 p.m. today, the City of Garland building inspector approved everything (green carded us!), so pouring the concrete starts at 11 a.m. tomorrow (Thursday).

We are enjoying and thankful for the continuing community interest in our Pace House project!

We thoroughly enjoy watching a handful of cars and pickups almost every day slow down or actually stop for a few moments in front of 317 S. 11th Street to catch a glimpse of the Pace House and the work going on there. Some people in these vehicles even take pictures from their windows or park and get out to take some "selfies" in front of the house.

And we also appreciate the positive and supportive comments people in the community make when we are out shopping, dining, or running other errands in Garland. I've even learned not to look shocked when someone I don't recognize approaches me—as if we are old friends—and starts talking in very specific and knowledgeable terms about all that is occurring in our Travis College Hill Historic District and with the Pace House. I am amazed at how many comment that they have driven down our street to get a personal visual update.

Yesterday we even had some Millennials (also known as Generation Y) say, "That's so cool!" Garland Mayor Douglas Athas tells me the Millennial Generation considers those words a high compliment.

PROGRESS REPORT: The site for the new pier-and-beam foundation has been thoroughly surveyed and marked. Don't even try to get close to it, because some of the twine used connecting all the various components isn't highly easy to see—as I have unfortunately learned a few times! The 8-foot metal forms that will go inside each of the 42 piers are mostly ready. Drilling the holes was supposed to occur yesterday (Saturday, November 8), but like all construction projects in the Dallas-Fort Worth area these days got delayed a day or two. We are hoping "them Rogers Boys", as their own promotional sign calls them, will be digging tomorrow. Maybe, just maybe, we'll be able to have our first official city inspection by Wednesday or Thursday!

More later.

Pace House now on our lot; what's next?

Garland's Pace House enters Travis College Hill Historic District

We've been plenty busy this past week supervising the Wednesday, October 15, move of Garland's Historic Pace House from the Patty Granville Arts Center in Downtown Garland to our vacant lot at 317 S. 11th St. The move of less than two miles required massive detail-planning, but that is behind us. Now onward to the future!

In the following Q & A I will try to answer some of the questions that people have posed to us this week:

1. Why is the house now sitting at the back of the lot and not on its new foundation? 

Our contractor felt it best to have the house nearby to double- and triple-check our architect's plans against the reality of the 1890s house. He did not want to build the new foundation before the house arrived at the lot. We certainly didn't want to write a check for the work, then find out a few days or weeks later than something was amiss. By having the house on the lot while the foundation is being drilled and poured, anytime a worker has a question, he can simply go over to the house and re-check the measurements.

2. When do you expect the foundation to be finished and the house moved on to the new foundation?

Our contractor will begin laying out the foundation this week. Then he will drill 42 piers at least 8-feet deep. After that he will insert the iron bars into the holes before we call for the first city inspection. Once those piers pass city inspection, concrete will be poured. Next will be the concrete beams. Some will be poured before the house is suspended over the foundation area; other beams will be poured after the house is moved over the foundation. After everything is complete and approved by the City of Garland, the house will then be lowered on to its new foundation. We expect the entire process to take anywhere from three to four weeks, weather permitting. We don't want to rush the process; we want it done right!

3. Can we go inside and tour the house now? 

No. Sorry. Our insurance company prefers that we hold off on tours until the house it sitting on its permanent foundation. Right now the house is still on its rails and wheels for moving. One has to climb a tall ladder to get on to the front porch, then unlock the door to get into the house.

4. How will the house be used?

We will return the house to its original purpose—a private residence.

After moving the house from its original location on North First at State streets in Garland, the Pace House was moved in 1985 to the city's then-Heritage Park. For the Texas Sesquicentennial the house was renovated as a community center, with meeting rooms, a small kitchen and two public restrooms. Our architect has drawn up plans—which we really like—for restoring the house to basically its original configuration.

5. Will the house have a second story?

It's difficult to tell from the history of the house whether it originally contained a second floor. The Pace family that occupied the house only had one daughter, who had no children. Consequently, lots of bedrooms were not as necessary for them as they were for other farm families in this area who had an abundance of children. However, our architect says we have plenty of room in the attic as it now exists with three dormers for two bedrooms and a full bath, without having to make any adjustments to the roof. 

Initially the house will be restored as a one-story residence with two bedrooms and 1 1/2 baths. Long-term plans call for finishing out the second story with the additional two bedrooms and full bath. The huge entry hall will easily hold a beautiful stairway to the second floor. We already have the architect's drawings in hand for this later addition.

6.  Who will live in the house?

Plans call for leasing the home to a qualified individual or family who have a love for historic houses. We are already compiling a list of people who are in line to lease the house. Our current home, the 1916 Beaver-Walker Home at 313 S. 11th Street, was purchased by us as a rental property, but when we got halfway into the remodeling we decided our furniture "would look great" in the house and changed our minds and moved into it ourselves. We've lived in our current home for 14 years. So who knows? We have no plans to occupy the house ourselves, but our history shows that our plans do change.

7. How well did the house survive the move?

Our preliminary review of the house shows that it survived the move in remarkably good condition. The house was well built to start with and was restored extremely well in 1985.  Frankly, we are amazed at what good shape the house is in right now still sitting on the rails on which it was moved. Because Garland has been dealing with two historic homes, some people have inadvertently confused the Pace House with the much-smaller Lyles-Tinsley House. The Pace House was in far better shape at the start of this decision-making process than the Lyles-Tinsley House was. Even with that said the mover was quite surprised and pleased at how well the Lyles-Tinsley House accommodated the move. He commented that he thought the Lyles-Tinsley House was in far better condition than he had first thought. No question has ever existed about the quality of the condition of the Pace House. As several people said this week, "They don't build houses today like they used to."

8. Do you know the exact date when the Pace House was built?

The sign Garland placed in front of the house when it was in Heritage Park says "circa 1895". We intend to reinstall that sign in front of the Pace House after it is on its foundation. Traditionally, Garland has used 1895 as the date for the house. Some sources say "the late 1890s". However, local Garland historian Jerry Flook says he has found a newspaper article that says the Pace family moved into its new home in 1901. He does not cite a second source that says exactly when construction on the house started. 

On a recent trip to visit the Chickasaw Nation's Historic White House near Tishomingo, OK, we noticed an uncanny and dramatic similarity between that historic national monument and the Pace House (both are Queen Anne style, popular in that period). The National Registry says the Chickasaw White House was begun in 1895 and completed and occupied in 1901. I don't imagine that houses like either of these—with hand-hewn wood and many special features—were built overnight. In 1895-1901 no such thing as Home Depot or Lowes existed.  We will continue to seek out documented evidence on the house's history. Either way, the house is one of the oldest still in existence in Garland—somewhere between 113 and 119 years old.

9. When can the public see the home?

The Pace House will be one of the dwellings in our neighborhood, the Travis College Hill Historic District, that will be available to be toured during the city's next Heritage Week, tentatively set for April 11, 2015. 

10. Will the dwelling always be known as the Pace House?

We intend to keep the name by which the dwelling has always been known.

11. Will the exterior paint color be the same as it has been since 1985 in the city's possession?

We plan to keep the exterior colors very close to those on the house currently.

Can the Garland we remember from 45 years ago still be revived?

The annual Labor Day Parade, like this one today, still brings people back to Downtown Garland.

Forty-five years ago this past weekend, my Garland-reared bride and I left Garland's First Baptist Church in our little 1968 VW bug (price tag new: $1,600) and headed to a life together that would take us to some of the most far-flung and fascinating cities in the United States and some 45 other countries around the world.

Still, the long tether of Garland kept pulling us back to visit family and to see the sad changes happening in Garland's historic downtown area. 

The Garland we left behind in the rearview mirror on August 30, 1969, would within a matter of decades be almost unrecognizable compared to the city we observed that day at the end of the Sixties. 

On our Saturday wedding-day the city's Square bustled with life. Mrs. Nick's variety store on the Square was thriving. Prescriptions could be picked up at nearby McKnight's, where the best chicken-salad sandwiches on the planet were served at the lunch counter. Any little odd or end anyone needed could be bought at Jones Hardware on the Square's north side. Cole & Davis on the Square's west side served as the city's department store.

Groceries—and those little incidentals that one of us would inevitably forget to pack for the trip back to Garland—could be found on Main Street in the Safeway store in the building where the boxing gym now resides. During one visit when I needed a new battery for my car White Auto at Main and South 11th Street was ready to assist me. Gasoline could be purchased a block from the Square. I even once had a flat tire repaired and an oil change performed at that nearby "full-service" gas station near the Square.

Since my in-laws preferred cafeterias to restaurants, every visit included at least one stop at Wyatt's Cafeteria on the corner diagonal to Garland High School, whose students in that day all seemed to be so well-mannered and polite.

And then there were those nightly walks with J.D., my father-in-law. Along about 8 p.m., he'd don his hat and ask expectantly, "Ready to go for a walk?" Off we would go for 30 to 45 minutes—up and down the residential streets of Travis College Hill and other sections of downtown Garland. As we walked, he always courteously inquired about my career, Kay's career, my family, our goals, our life together in Louisville, Houston, Nashville, or wherever we happened to call home at that period of our lives and eventually how everything was going with each of our children. All very pleasant memories.

We'd pass neatly-kept home after home with lights shining through the windows. J.D. would point out who lived where and would talk about what a quiet, safe place Garland was to live and how glad he was that he moved here in 1939 before the city's rapid growth began to occur.

Mayberry came to mind. I thought of Garland as the epitome of Small-Town America. Even though I knew the city's outlying cotton fields and farm land were quickly being gobbled up for new housing additions and shopping centers, I could hardly comprehend Garland as much more than the little cluster of homes and businesses bounded by Garland Avenue, Walnut, First Street, and West Avenue D that I knew in the late 1960s. After all, it contained just about everything someone living in the area needed.

Over the years we saw that things were changing dramatically in the Old City of Garland, but we had no idea how drastically.

Then on August 1, 2000, Kay and I returned to live here permanently (and we still hope for the rest of our lives). Thirty days later on our 31st wedding anniversary, the contrast between the old and current Garland leaped out at us and could not have been more vivid. At 11 a.m. (the time that our wedding had begun years ago) we made a special commemorative visit to First Baptist's sanctuary to remember those special moments and vows years earlier. Immediately we were struck by the changes. Pews with cushions had replaced the uncomfortable pull-down theater seats. The front of the church didn't look the same and neither did the windows, which I remembered so well because of the bright sunlight beaming through them on that beautiful morning in 1969. And the acoustics were oh so different—better but definitely different.

The church, of course, was a microcosm of what had happened all around the downtown area—only in reverse. The church and the other nearby churches in the area looked better and appeared more prosperous, but the city itself didn't. Mayberry was gone. In its place was something we weren't quite sure we were going to like.

We soon assessed that somebody had stolen our quaint, quiet, safe, self-suffient little historic city. Mrs. Nick's was gone; Jones Hardware was dark and vacant. White Auto had been turned into a sign-manufacturing company. Wyatt's Cafeteria was closed and mostly forgotten. One had to drive to Garland Avenue to find a grocery store or a gas station. We quickly determined that walking too far at night might not be the safest thing to do. Sidewalks were not in the best of conditions; traffic, especially in the  the 1970s "couplet" brainchild (the one-way streets ushering State Highway 78 through downtown), seemed much worse than we had remembered; friends and neighbors had grown old; and the city had a much different feel to it.

And most frustrating of all—most of those beautiful, picturesque pre-World War II homes with lights shining through their windows either were gone and their land turned into church buildings and ugly parking lots or were in a state of decay that troubled our hearts.

In recent years the city's leaders have started spending million of dollars to try and revitalize the downtown area by building mixed-use apartments and storefronts near the new DART rail station and along a couple of streets more than eight blocks from our home. And entrepreneurs like our friend Robert A. Smith and ourselves are investing heavily in trying to restore our own little segments of the Old City. Yet,  despite the arrival of a handful of nice restaurants and a few new businesses, so much more needs to be done.

Only time will tell whether these efforts will succeed and Mayberry/Garland can be brought back from the cliff of disaster and the downtown area can be truly revitalized and returned to be a special place for people to live, work, and enjoy life.