Pace House 10-year move anniversary

Garland Mayor Scott LeMay told an audience that the fact that the move and restoration of Garland’s historic Pace House “created public engagement” is of far greater value than the increase in tax revenue that the house being transferred to the public tax rolls has brought.

“The tax money is a minor thing,” he said. “You can’t put a price tag on” the opportunities for teaching living history and the opportunities for community service that the Pace’s new lease on life a decade ago has brought to Garland.

His remarks came at a ceremony on October 12 marking the 10-year anniversary of the high-profile move of the dwelling from the public to private sector, when the turn-of-the-century structure’s future was “up in the air” as a result of expansion of city government facilities in downtown Garland, he said.

The Pace dwelling sat behind city hall and had been used as a public event center since 1986, when it was moved there from being the main farmhouse on a cotton acreage in rural Garland. Original owners were early Garland settlers John and Nina Pace.

“A few dedicated individuals moved mountains, or at least an old house to give it new life as a private residence,” LeMay said. “The move occurred in October 2014 amid much fanfare and curiosity.”

LeMay was a councilmember when the house was moved and has been mayor for three terms since that time.

Emcee Louis Moore, president of Friends of Garland’s Historic Magic 11th Street, sponsoring organization of the event today, said the Pace House has been “an agent for goodwill in our community an beyond.”

“Repeatedly its doors have been open to the public to extend hospitality in the spring and at Christmastime as part of community-wide home tours,” he said.

He lauded the “partnership that went into the cooperation that took place with the city and school district and the handoff to the private sector of this beautiful historical artifact of Garland’s early days.”

John Combs, a Friends Board member and a descendant of the Pace family, said the Paces were an esteemed family that, besides being early day settlers in Duck Creek, were descended from English nobility and had an important role “across the pond” before the first Pace ancestor moved to America in 1609.

His great-great-grandfather was Nicholas Featherston Pace, an uncle to Pace House original owner John Henry Pace.

Friends secretary Kay Moore lauded by name numerous individuals that sat on city council and were active in city administration, as well as private citizens, for their help in the highly complicated and tedious Pace House transition in 2013 and 2014.

The event was attended by several current and former councilmembers and by school board member Daphne Stanley, among others.

The celebration featured a replica of the Pace House made from gingerbread and frosting and created by Friends Board member Kenia Ott.

Those that were married in the Pace House or feted at an event in the house’s former life were recognized. In attendance were Pace House Bride and Groom Janet Andrews Black and her husband Mike, whose wedding ceremony was performed there.

At a public event in downtown Garland, the five-time award-winning video, “Saving Magic 11th Street”, was shown continuously from 1 to 3 p.m. at Epiphany Gallery, 622 W. State. Artisan cookies by Mallory Uvere that featured various architectural details of the Pace, such as the gables with fish-scale trim and the blue front door, were replicated in the cookies that were served.