Just west of the twin brick arches at Market and Elm Streets, which mark the gateway to the Historic West End of downtown Dallas, you can’t help but notice the faded, ghostly five-story advertisements drifting in and out of focus on the side of the Purse Building.
That ghost writing might be the only thing many Dallasites recall about the Purse. After all, it’s been vacant for 24 years, long enough to give us all collective amnesia. But the dormant edifice, with its two-tone exterior of beige brick facade and red brick sides, was never completely forgotten. Tanya Ragan, the fourth owner in a decade to try to bring it back to life, is well on her way to making this 113-year-old grand dame of a building a player in the West End’s revival.
Read More