Oak Cliff Church Looses Historic Preservation Battle, Faces Asbestos Axe

In Dallas, Texas, an historic building which preservationists hoped to save has missed obtaining historic designation, allowing asbestos remediation workers to begin demolition before the building is officially torn down.

Oak Cliff Christian Church was built in 1916 on the site of a former house of worship at 300 E. 10th Street. In 1925, parishioners enlarged it, then in 1962 sold it and moved the congregation to 1222 W. Kiest Blvd.

The building was purchased by the Dallas Independent School District, or DISD, in August of 2009 and slated for demolition to make room for a new Adamson High School. Adamson alumni and historic preservationists have both pleaded for saving the church, or at least some part of it, in the interests of Dallas' history.

The DISD school board has said no, and DISD school board president Adam Medrano has failed to respond to the requests of Michael Amonett, president of the Old Oak Cliff Conservation League.

When asbestos remediation consulting firm Ponce Contractors finishes its work, in about 17 days, the wrecking balls will arrive, clearing the way for what DISD officials see as future tennis courts or an athletic field for the new high school.

It's a sad day for preservationists, but good news for students, who will not face asbestos-related diseases like malignant mesothelioma, a uniquely lethal form of cancer (of mesothelial tissues) that kills roughly 2,500 American per year, and will continue doing so until the asbestos legacy expires in about 2030.

This asbestos legacy is the result of mesothelioma's long dormancy, which typically lasts up to 40 years. In 1989, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, limited asbestos in domestic products to one percent (or less, by weight or volume).

This means that the last cases of mesothelioma from domestic asbestos use should be diagnosed in about 2030, after which mesothelioma deaths are projected to decline - an estimate that would be reliable if not for the fact that imported products still contain varying quantities of asbestos, from countries like India, Russia and China, where asbestos is not banned.

In Missoula, Montana, the county-owned Fort Missoula museum has escaped a similar fate, with a $50,000 grant from the National Parks Service aimed at asbestos abatement that will allow the museum to open to the public in a year or so.

Fort Missoula, which the county bought from the U.S. Forest Service, is the site of one of the largest Japanese internment camps during and after World War II. The 132-year-old building will also need the help of private investors, and possibly some federal grant money, to complete renovation, but the initial $50,000 grant makes the rest possible.

Montana is also the site of the infamous W.R. Grace asbestos mine, in Libby, which operated until 1990 and saw the legal conclusion to one of America's longest running asbestos cases, in May of 2009 - a verdict of not guilty which has since inspired the ire of many Libby residents and the confusion of many legal experts.

The trial, prompted by a federal indictment, ran for more than a month but was settled overnight, largely because the trial judge withheld evidence that he considered prejudicial, prompting David Uhlmann, University of Michigan law professor and a former environmental crimes prosecutor with the Justice Department, to wonder what would have happened if the trial had been conducted, "in a manner that was fair to everyone involved."

Sources: Dallas Observer, Environmental Working Group, Democracy Now

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