January 8, 2026
Last night, the Historic Landmark Commission cleared the way for the city to proceed with issuing a demolition permit through its normal administrative procedures. The commission voted unanimously to authorize the demolition and require the relocation/reconstruction of a partial wall of the school building and require documentation of the building in compliance with the Historic American Buildings Standards (HABS). Commissioners had only two real options:
- Vote “Yes” and allow the demolition, with the limited conditions. Commissioners made it clear they didn’t want the building demolished, but felt that this proposal would preserve some tiny part of it.
- Vote “No”, which would automatically trigger Historic Zoning hearings at Planning Commission and City Council, where they acknowledged that it was overwhelmingly likely that the result would be demolition with no conditions.
There was a brief moment where it looked like they might delay this process for an additional month, but staff and applicants reminded the commission that the clock would run out on that process and the conditions might not be adopted. In that case, the permit would have been issued by default with no conditions.
Was this outcome a surprise?
No. This outcome was expected. It was inevitable that the commission would eventually approve the proposal because it has no real power to stop a demolition permit or even delay one for long in most situations.
Does this mean that demolition will start immediately?
No. OHT has administrative hoops to jump through, including submitting architectural documentation of the building to comply with the Historic American Buildings Standards before the city issues a permit. Also, it will be very expensive to remove this building and OHT does not yet own it, so it seems unlikely it would spend that much money on something it does not own. Finally, there are also legal questions as to whether AISD has clear title on nine of the 27 lots it has contracted to sell to OHT.
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