The little blue houseArchitecture | Planning | Storytelling
Dallas, TX
2015 - 2024
The Neighborhood Resource Center (NRC) – affectionately known as the little blue house – at 1208 E 10th St is a renovated historic structure stewarded by buildingcommunityWORKSHOP ([bc]). Located in Dallas’s Tenth Street Historic District, one of the nation’s oldest intact Freedmen’s Towns, this house is a key piece of Dallas’s history. Over the decades, the neighborhood has had to fight against highway construction, demolition of homes, and appropriate levels of public investment and care.
Despite these challenges, the neighborhood remains, and has a vision for its future. The Little Blue House is a key piece of that future. It opened on June 15, 2024 and continues to serve as an arts, planning, and organizing space for residents and visitors to the Tenth Street Historic District. Arts programming includes high quality arts and cultural workshops, performances, and cultural events exploring the Black Texan experience. Residents also meet here to plan for future development of the neighborhood, guided by their 2021 Neighborhood Implementation Plan.
Renovation Funders:
Meadows Foundation
Texas Historic Commission
Texas Historical Foundation
The Summerlee Foundation
Project Collaborators:
Hakeem Adewumi
Marion Marshall
Texas A&M School of Architecture
Major Funding Partners (Programming):
City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture
Eugene McDermott Foundation
PNC Foundation
Rea Charitable Trust
Tav Lunsford Donor Advised Fund at the Communities Foundation of Texas
UPDATES
Pre-Construction Clean-Up at 1208 E. 10th Street
November 14, 2017
[bc] received a Safety Grant from Texas Mutual to support our purchase of ergonomic office equipment and safety equipment to keep our staff safe at the Tenth Street Neighborhood Resource Center construction site.
In the Tenth Street neighborhood—one of the last remaining and perhaps the most intact of Dallas's historic Freedmen's Towns—we’re working with residents to help build local capacity. We're renovating a historic home at 1208 E. 10th Street to serve as a Neighborhood Resource Center. When completed, it will become a repository for essential resources, a site for activities that promote technical learning among residents and strengthen community cohesion, and a residence for a [bc] architectural designer who will hold open office hours to assist the community with technical advice.
The Neighborhood Resource Center will support residents in their efforts to address the pressing issues they've identified in their community, such as vacancy, redevelopment pressures, and the disrepair of historic homes in the neighborhood.
In preparation for construction activities, [bc] and community members visited the property to conduct preliminary site clean-up. Activities included leaf-raking, trash pick-up, and bamboo and brush clearing. Check out the photos below!
Staff benefitted from the use of coveralls, safety glasses, gloves, ear protection, and hardhats purchased through Texas Mutual's generous grant. We're so grateful for this support!
[bc] is grateful to all those who have provided support for the Tenth Street Neighborhood Resource Center: The Real Estate Council Foundation, The Dorothea L. Leonhardt Foundation, Inc., the Hillcrest Foundation, the Hoblitzelle Foundation, and Bank of America.
Priority Setting Meeting for 1208 Tenth Street
February 16, 2017
[bc] is soon to begin rehabilitation on a small house in the Tenth Street Historic District in Dallas, one of the few remaining intact Freedmen’s Town in the country. [bc] has long relationship with the neighborhood, having worked together with the Tenth Street Historic District on Neighborhood Stories and Activating Vacancy: Tenth Street, as well as being involved with the local crime watch, Operation Tenth Street. The house, which will be remodeled according to the historic district guidelines, will be turned into a Neighborhood Resource Center, a hub of activity, information, and programming for the community.
Residents of Tenth Street turned up in front of the house on Saturday, February 11th, for a Priority Setting Meeting to determine what goals the Neighborhood Resource Center should focus on, what kinds of programming and events should happen there, and what resources they want to access. A few of the many suggestions included: different activities to involve kids and stay active, larger cultural events or festivals, a community gallery, and more!
10th Street: Construction Set To Begin
January 9, 2017
The 10th Street house is a small-scale rehabilitation project on an existing house in the historic 10th Street District, one of the few remaining freedmen's towns left in Dallas. The rehabilitation efforts to the existing house will be minimal and true to the original structure, honoring the history of the neighborhood, and original aesthetic of the home. Construction is set to begin at the beginning of 2017. Once complete the home will be a community design hub for the neighborhood.
Tenth Street Sweep Video
October 28, 2014
Tenth Street Sweep
September 29, 2014
The final event of the Activating Vacancy initiative was the Tenth Street Sweep, a physical audit of the neighborhood. Community members, volunteers, and artists collected data to establish a baseline for neighborhood health. They also recorded the conditions of streets, sidewalks, vacant lots, historic structures, street lighting, and several other aspects of the neighborhood identified by community members as potential sites for the audit. Information gathered will be used to propose, pursue and gauge positive growth and change in the Tenth Street Historic District. Participants used a smartphone app called rePhoto to take pictures and complete survey questions during the audit.
After a morning of hard work, we all gathered for a barbecue lunch at the American Care Academy. Thanks to Preservation Dallas, the The Life of Cities class at the UT Arlington School of Architecture, the 2000 Roses Foundation, Ruth West, the rePhoto team, and all the community members and volunteers who helped with the event!