DART police building’s LEED certification makes history

The Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) Police headquarters, which is located in the former Monroe Shops streetcar maintenance barn in Dallas, is the first building on the National Register of Historic Places to achieve LEED® Platinum certification, the U.S. Green Building Council’s highest recognition for energy efficiency.

DART earned the certification by working closely during the renovation with the Texas Historical Commission, Federal Transit Administration and city of Dallas to ensure that the renovations were performed in an environmentally sensitive way and were consistent with the U.S. Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Preservation, DART officials said in a prepared statement.

Known as the Monroe Shops, the former train maintenance facility was built in 1914 for the Texas Electric Railroad and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006. It was remodeled, rebuilt and transformed into the police headquarters in March 2011, DART officials said.