More events, rehabbed buildings and continued beautification of the grounds.

It’s part of what Dallas hopes will draw visitors to the 277-acre Fair Park beyond the popular three weeks happening now at the State Fair of Texas.

For Fahim Mahmud, a State Fair of Texas visit is part of his annual must do. But visits to Fair Park on any of the other 49 weeks of the year?

“We actually do not come a lot,” Mahmud said.

Changing that is part of Brett Wulke’s charge.

Wulke works for Dallas Park and Recreation and became general manager of Fair Park when the city took over day-to-day operations of the 277-acre park in September 2025.

A process, Wuke says, initially brought a lot of questions.

“What are we taking over, what’s the condition of the park,” Wulke said. “None of this was going to happen overnight, we know that.”

Wulke says in the last year, many of the improvements the city has made are ones visitors to Fair Park are less likely to immediately notice.

Items like HVAC repairs and replacements in the Centennial Building, the African American Museum and Museum of National History.

“When you step into a building, you deserve to have air conditioning and functioning restrooms,” Wulke said. “A lot of our work was behind the scenes, now I want to deliver something the public gets to see.”

A Dallas City Council committee received a first-look Monday.

In an update to the Parks, Trails and the Environment Committee, Wulke walked though facilities improvements the department has made,including lowering the amount of deferred maintenance on the art-deco buildings across Fair Park from $48 million down to $44 million.

In addition, plans are underway to add security enhancements, including a 24/7 incident management system, to provide more real-time clarity for any activity or incident in the park, monitored in central command center.

Wulke also cited work underway to creating updated bid specifications that will lead to longer term contracts for events, which could provide more revenue and predictability.

Councilmember Kathy Stewart, who chairs the committee, said the progress over the last 12 months since the city reassumed control of the 277-acre park, is notable.

“You guys have stepped and really made such a difference in the past year” Stewart said. “And given us hope that this beautiful asset of the city of Dallas can truly function and something that we can be proud of.”