Dallas officials have been looking for ways to resuscitate the 277-acre Fair Park and revitalize its surrounding neighborhoods for decades.
Park officials Monday revisited ideas for a new pathway after ending the city’s contracts with nonprofit Fair Park First and subcontractor Oak View Group, a private venue management company, to run the park.
Absent from the discussion were plans for a long-promised community park intended to reverse harms imposed by the city after it razed homes to build parking lots, an example of the city’s history of neglecting investments in South Dallas.
City officials suggested utilizing a hybrid model. Use the city’s resources to oversee contracts of all the entities operating in the park, take care of the maintenance and management of the park’s various facilities and buildings and run community events.
Political Points
Private companies can be utilized for responsibilities such as parking, security and venue management for large-scale events like concerts and festivals. A nonprofit can come in as a partner to raise funds and assume operations for specific projects in which they’re involved.
These were roles that were handled by Oak View Group and Fair Park First until city officials found about $6 million in restricted donations had been misspent.
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However, the city attorney’s office at Monday’s meeting suggested officials not discuss Fair Park First, which has been under the microscope for the setbacks and successes the park has experienced over the past two years. That also meant that the community park was not included in the park department’s plan to fix Fair Park.
Some council members expressed concern that they couldn’t talk about the community park.
“I’m tired of the way that things are being put on an agenda that gags us,” said council member Adam Bazaldua, who represents the district encompassing the park. “We’ve got major business in the city that we need to discuss, and I don’t like it being parceled and siloed out for us to not actually get to the elephant in the room.”
The plan was for the community park to break down the fences separating the mammoth city asset from the various neighborhoods in South Dallas and build a civic asset that could move the region economically.
Council member Maxie Johnson also expressed frustration. “When we keep transparency and accountability off the table, that means there’s some other stuff going on,” Johnson said.
For decades, the city unsuccessfully oversaw the park’s upkeep as delayed maintenance kept adding up. It transitioned the park’s management to private oversight about six years ago and tapped Fair Park First to raise funds and oversee Oak View Group’s day-to-day operations. But the final contracts gave Fair Park First no authority. Instead, Oak View Group functionally managed the park and its finances.
Last year, the management structure came under fire after $5.7 million in restricted donor funds were misspent on park operations, and several vendors who had done work around the park have not been paid for their services.
Cutting the contracts put Fair Park First in limbo. The nonprofit has raised more than $30 million for the community park. It’s short of its $39 million goal. The nonprofit changed its board, adding expertise from historic preservationists to create a runway for the park’s construction. But unless the city signs a new contract with the nonprofit, there’s not much that can be done.
Members of the Park Board, the entity that oversees the Park and Recreation Department, are debating how to proceed with an agreement that will allow Fair Park First to utilize the dollars it raised to construct the park. Arun Agarwal, the board president, has called for a task force to assess the partnerships.
The department has also begun a new audit to figure out how revenues were collected and spent in the park under the Oak View Group and Fair Park First. Some Park Board officials would like to wait until the audit is released before deciding who will oversee construction of the community park. Others believe Fair Park First, with changes to its structure and oversight, can finish what it started.
Others, like council member Lorie Blair, were concerned about who would be hired for these roles. “The city of Dallas does not do well on the management of property,” Blair said.
But city officials said work was underway, with increased community involvement, to tackle that.
Economic development
City officials took lessons from spaces such as the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, to Parque La Mexicana in Mexico, and crafted five strategies. Their first strategy is to develop a program that helps existing tenants — such as Texas Discovery Gardens, Broadway Dallas at Music Hall and the State Fair of Texas — collaborate on joint events.
The park department’s strategies also involve hosting movie nights, small businesses and local concerts around the Leonhardt Lagoon.
The Dallas Independent School District could utilize the Coliseum and the Cotton Bowl for athletic events, while partners such as Live Nation, an entertainment company, could secure large concerts. Fair Park has previously hosted acts like Karol G and the Rolling Stones.
City officials plan to conduct a study to identify ways the park could generate revenue and create job opportunities for residents.
“Fair Park currently has no retail or standalone restaurants, despite ample space for new or infill development,” said Ryan O’Connor, the deputy park director.
Park officials plan to rope in the Dallas Economic Development Corporation to bolster the measure.
Their final strategy involves partnering with nonprofits. One idea is creating a new Cotton Bowl Foundation, modeled after the Rose Bowl Foundation in Pasadena, to sustain the park’s cultural and agricultural assets.