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New community park at Fair Park to start construction in fall
A planned community park at Fair Park in Dallas is no longer conceptual, according to city officials. FOX 4's Lori Brown has more on how the city plans to begin construction later this year.
DALLAS - Construction on the long-awaited community park at Fair Park is ready to begin later this year.
Fair Park Community Park
What we know:
Work on the $40 million project should begin by Aug. 31, with an opening date scheduled for 2028.
On Tuesday, the Dallas City Council’s Parks, Trail, and Environment Committee unanimously agreed to recommend that the full city council approve the development agreement for the park.
The 10.5-acre community park will be on the east side of Fair Park at Fitzhugh Avenue and Lagow Street, above a parking lot. It will include playgrounds, a splash pad, shaded lawns, canopy trees, walking paths, a fitness loop, a dog park, and gathering spaces.
100% of the community-requested amenities were included in the final design, according to Fair Park First, the nonprofit organization that has been raising money for the project.
It will be the largest green space investment in South Dallas.
What's next:
Fair Park First said the plans for the park are no longer conceptual; they are real.
The organization is excited but still needs to raise $5 million, and it will need to do that within six months of construction starting.
While construction is set to start just before the start of the State Fair of Texas, Fair Park First said it will work with fair officials on those logistics.
Once construction starts, it is expected to take two years to complete.
Community Park Setbacks
The backstory:
Two years ago, an audit determined the third-party operator of Fair Park, Oak View Group, misused $5.7 million donated for capital projects on operating expenses.
The city later canceled that contract.
Company hired to manage Fair Park left it in disrepair, Dallas leaders say
Fair Park is in much worse condition now than it was before the city turned over management to the for-profit company, Oak View Group.
Council members on Tuesday asked what assurances there are that something like that won’t happen again.
"There has been a turnover of the leaders that were at the table previously. There’s also been a number of guardrails put in place. We have put in a number of process and procedures as we’ve kind of gone over with all the questions as well around our financial controls. Additionally, there is not a third party at the table as well. And when I say that I mean there is not an operator who has access to our all of our accounts and is managing our finances. There is no longer another party at the table. We manage our funds. We manage our projects. We manage our work," said Alyssa Arnold, the CEO of Fair Park First.
The Source: The information in this story comes from Tuesday's Dallas Parks, Trail, and Environment Committee meeting, as well as past news coverage.