10-acre community park to open in Dallas's Fair Park in late 2026

"You hear a lot of stuff and you never see any action. Well, now that action is happening”

Construction on a planned community park in South Dallas will begin in late 2025, according to leadership of the nonprofit that manages Fair Park.

Fair Park First board president Veletta Lill said on Thursday that designs for the 10-acre park are expected to be complete in early 2025. Lill, along with Fair Park First board vice chair Jason Brown, briefed the Dallas Park and Recreation Board on Thursday.

“The park is moving forward,” Lill said.

Fair Park First is responsible for making the nearly decade-old idea of a community park a reality.

Brown, who grew up in the neighborhoods around Fair Park, said being able to bring the park to fruition is part of updating the historic narrative around the 277-acre city-owned asset.

“Growing up in the area that’s historically been disenfranchised, it’s an honor to be at the seat of the table charged with the task of overseeing that this community park happens,” Brown said.

The park will be located just east of Dos Equis Pavillion, where parking lot 10 currently sits. It is bound by S. Fitzhugh Avenue to the south, Lagow Street to the east, Pennsylvania Avenue to the north, and Exposition Avenue to the west.

“You hear a lot of stuff and you never see any action. Well, now that action is happening.”

The community park, originally proposed in 2018, was to be 18 acres and include a parking garage and a large performance stage with dressing rooms.

Lill told the board that those were not features the community or donors ever asked for and have since been removed.

The remaining footprint for the community park will be approximately 10 acres, about twice the size of Klyde Warren Park when it opened over a decade ago, Lill said.

A total of $30 million in public and philanthropic donations have been secured for the project. Lill said FPF is confident it will be able to raise the additional $9.1 million needed over the next 18 months.

“There’s no more important story here than us keeping faith with the community,” Lill said.

The park's amenities include three children’s playgrounds, a dog park, a bike hub, a great lawn, and native landscaping.

“We’re going to be able to see it through, I’m very confident,” Brown said.