The century-old classical revival building that once housed Crozier Tech has sat abandoned for 15 years – a perennial item on preservationists' most-endangered lists and a source of frustration to city planners.
The building, with plywood over its windows, sits across from the Pearl Street DART station, a gateway to the AT&T Performing Arts Center and potentially one of the most desirable blocks in downtown.
Preservationists credit the alumni group with saving the structure, and alumni say the preservation fight helped hold together the group. But the owners have argued that those preservation restrictions have made it harder to develop.
The building was opened as Dallas High School, the city's sole secondary school, in 1908. It went through several names through the decades, most famously as Norman Robert Crozier Technical High School from 1942 to 1974.
The alumni association includes graduates of Dallas High School. Although graduates of the DISD Business and Management Magnet School, which occupied the building from 1975 to 1995, are also eligible to join the alumni group, few have done so.
Two years after DISD closed the building, it was purchased in 1998 for $6.1 million by California investor Robert Yu, managing partner of 2218 Bryan Street Ltd.
The owners unsuccessfully fought historic designation of the property, saying it would make it harder to find a buyer. They took the issue to court and lost. The outside of the building cannot be altered without city approval.
info from The Dallas Morning News
photo from Red Oak Kid
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