Jay Firsching

Revitalizing South Dallas’ Wheatley Place Starts at School

By CandysDirt.com Contributor / February 23, 2023 /

By Jay FirschingSenior Associate and Historic Preservation Specialist, Architexas Wheatley Place was platted in 1916 in an area known at the time as Queen City. Like many Black enclaves surrounding Dallas, it originated after the Civil War as a farming community outside the city limits. As Dallas slowly expanded, the extension of streetcar lines to…

The Top 5 Historic Preservation Stories That Struck a Chord in 2022

By Karen Eubank / December 29, 2022 /

Did you know CandysDirt.com is the only media outlet in the country offering a weekly column on historic preservation? I spend a good portion of each week researching ways to educate and inform our readers about why preserving our built history is critical. I also persuade and cajole some of our finest preservation specialists such…

Reconstructing Fair Park: What We’ve Lost And Why The Ford Building Matters

By CandysDirt.com Contributor / March 31, 2022 /

By Jay FirschingSenior Associate and Historic Preservation Specialist, Architexas Fair Park was designed primarily for a one-time event, the 1936 Texas Centennial and World’s Fair. Preserving the Art Deco exhibition buildings initially intended to be temporary has been challenging. We have also lost so many structures, such as the Ford Building. Can some of these…

History’s Latest Rhyme: Advancing East Lancaster is a Plan 120 Years in The Making

By CandysDirt.com Contributor / October 12, 2021 /

By Jay FirschingSenior Associate and Historic Preservation Specialist, Architexas Later this month, the City of Fort Worth and Trinity Metro will host public meetings about the Advancing East Lancaster transit-oriented development plan. The proposal is to establish high-capacity transit along the system’s most-used corridor. If things go according to plan, this will boost economic activity…

Bringing History Back From The Dead: A Librarian Resurrects The Fannin County Courthouse

By CandysDirt.com Contributor / September 9, 2021 /

By Jay FirschingSenior Historic Preservation Specialist, Architexas On a hot August Friday, Barbara McCutcheon stood on the square in downtown Bonham and admired the manifestation of her hard work. It was a day of celebration as her decades-long struggle to restore the Fannin County Courthouse, her passion project. But it was in 2010 that the…