{"id":253403,"date":"2026-04-16T23:37:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T23:37:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/253403\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T23:37:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T23:37:08","slug":"dallas-city-council-member-asked-for-pause-on-oak-cliff-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/253403\/","title":{"rendered":"Dallas City Council member asked for pause on Oak Cliff park"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Dallas City Council member asked for construction on a long-awaited Cadillac Heights park<\/a> to be paused over safety concerns \u2013 even though some community residents say the work should continue.<\/p>\n

Council member Maxie Johnson requested that work on Roland G. Parrish<\/a> Park be paused, according to city documents.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Community concerns have arisen over the park\u2019s safety, including whether the area has contaminated soil or is prone to flooding from the Trinity River, city Park and Recreation Department leaders said at a Park Board meeting Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wouldn’t dare build a park, nowhere in our park system, that’s on contaminated soil,\u201d said John Jenkins, the park department director. \u201cWe have been called in to try and remedy a social, environmental injustice by then turning it into a safe environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the Park Board meeting, city officials said the park land is safe and has been thoroughly vetted over a yearslong process that included remediation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Johnson, the council member who represents the district where the park is located, declined to comment. His request comes after the City Council approved the construction<\/a>, a decision made before he took office in June.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think now his position is more, \u2018Can we pause?\u2019 Because he wanted to reassure the public that everything is safe,\u2019\u201d Jenkins told The Dallas Morning News in advance of the meeting. In March, the city hosted a community meeting about the park, and concerns were raised at that time, city staff said Thursday.<\/p>\n

Cadillac Heights was once a dumping ground for scrap metal and became polluted by nearby lead smelters, forcing the clearing of nearby neighborhoods, according to a 2023\u00a0News report. The city conducted environmental site assessments in 2020. Lead contamination in the soil was remediated in 2023, with work fully approved by the state in 2025.<\/p>\n

The park is outside the floodplain, Jenkins said, and a map presented at the Park Board meeting showed how the park was outside floodplain boundaries.<\/p>\n

The multimillion-dollar project is envisioned as a transformational step<\/a> toward righting historical wrongs, with more than 25 acres of green space for sports and recreation near East Kiest and Cedar Crest boulevards, Jenkins and other officials have said. The park is expected to be completed in the fall with a playground, trail, athletic field and other amenities.<\/p>\n

Related: Dallas to begin work on $10 million ‘transformational project’ in Cadillac Heights<\/a><\/p>\n

If work were to pause for an extended length of time, there could be a legal risk, Jenkins said. The contractor has mobilized resources and personnel to work on the park. An extended stop would require approval from the City Council, as it would change the contract.<\/p>\n

Taylor Toynes, the area\u2019s Park Board representative, said park department staffers have been in the community and that he and the council member have been fully briefed on concerns from the neighborhood.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom my understanding, and the reports that were provided to me, the park and its land meet the highest grade of safety and quality in terms of providing a park,\u201d Toynes said, adding that he appreciated the park department\u2019s work. \u201cI look forward to this amenity being in Cadillac Heights.\u201d<\/p>\n

The park department has continued to offer reassurances that the park meets safety standards, releasing a statement earlier this month. Some community members from the Cedar Crest area said they were confused by Johnson\u2019s request and remained supportive of the park.<\/p>\n

Ester Davis, who has lived in Oak Cliff for decades, said she\u2019s been excited about the park, a needed asset for the area and nearby schools. Davis said she remembers when the area was flooded and \u201cunderwater.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a beautiful tract of land,\u201d she said. \u201cSince I\u2019m a jogger, I was excited about the track and being able to ride my bike.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carolyn King Arnold, the area\u2019s previous council member, supported the project, which has faced several delays over the years. Arnold reached her term limit<\/a> after overseeing the district for nearly a decade.<\/p>\n

Davis doesn\u2019t believe construction of the park should now face interruption, adding that it was planned and approved well before Johnson took office. The park went through a community engagement process, Davis said. City Council approved a construction contract last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should go ahead with the plan that the people want,\u201d Davis said. \u201cWe need to continue what has been set forth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thomas Wattley, former president of the Cedar Crest Neighborhood Association, said he doesn\u2019t have concerns about the land, with the evaluation it received. He said the park is needed, with community members advocating for it for many years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a park that we\u2019ve been working on and wanted,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Staff writer Devyani Chhetri contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Dallas City Council member asked for construction on a long-awaited Cadillac Heights park to be paused over…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":253404,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[102,104,103,2327,93339,95705,88945],"class_list":{"0":"post-253403","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-dallas","9":"tag-dallas-headlines","10":"tag-dallas-news","11":"tag-environment","12":"tag-tp-future-of-north-texas","13":"tag-tp-southern-dallas","14":"tag-tp-oak-cliff"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=253403"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253403\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/253404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=253403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=253403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=253403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}