Amid Survival Battle, Fair Park Nonprofit Secures New Funding for Community Oasis

The long-promised community green space in South Dallas, expected to replace parking spaces at Fair Park and fulfill a promise to nearby residents, is $3 million closer to reaching its fundraising goal.

Leaders of the effort made the announcement Friday, days after the city terminated its contract with embattled nonprofit Fair Park First, which has been driving the community park’s fundraising and development, and its subcontractor, Oak View Group, a venue management company.

The $3 million in state funding brings the organization just about $6 million shy of its goal for the 10-acre community park.

Construction is expected to begin next year after the FIFA World Cup.

Adam Bazaldua, the Dallas City Council representative for the area, credited state Rep. Venton Jones and state Sen. Royce West, who were both in attendance, for their advocacy in securing the funding .

“This isn’t just about a park,” Bazaldua said. “This is about equity. This is about honoring the needs and the vision of the people who live here in South Dallas, and it’s about delivering on the promises that are long overdue for South Dallas.”

The project is expected to cost about $39 million, of which Fair Park First has raised about $33 million. The park was initially planned to occupy about 18 acres and cost more than $65 million.

The scope was reduced late last year after the nonprofit shaved off a $30 million parking garage, among other features, from its designs.

Fair Park First has raised nearly $60 million total to build the community park and preserve historic buildings across the 277-acre complex.

The anticipated park is a move toward reversing the impact of city policies that resulted in neglect and disinvestment in the area.

Hundreds of homes of Black families were razed using eminent domain.

“More than 50 years ago, our community was told that this park, this sacred space, would be restored,” Jones said. “That it would be honored, it would serve as a place once again for joy, for connections, for memory-making and for healing for the city of Dallas, but specifically for the residents of South Dallas.

“We all know what happened next. That promise was delayed. It was deferred, and it was dismissed.”

Jones said neighbors watched as resources went elsewhere, but added that the community didn’t give up, and Fair Park First took on the burden of keeping the dream alive. Jones called the news conference Friday a reckoning. He said the space held personal memories from when he visited Fair Park as a kid.

Veletta Forsythe Lill, Fair Park First’s board chair, said the funding meant being a step closer to their goal.

“South Dallas is richly blessed with green space and trees sprinkled in various communities,” Lill said. “Here, however, is mostly asphalt.” At the news conference, several speakers credited Fair Park First and Lill for her work.

There’s been tension between the city, Fair Park First and Oak View Group since allegations of misspending surfaced and the nonprofit began reviewing the park’s finances and the donations that were committed.

Last year, park officials were also alerted to a $3 million budget shortfall in the park’s budget. Complaints of outstanding payments to vendors began mounting amid missed utility payments. In its current budget, the city allocated additional money to Fair Park to take over the grounds maintenance.

Additionally, Park Director John Jenkins has criticized the for-profit operator for allowing the park’s infrastructure to deteriorate.

Fair Park First and Oak View Group have each taken turns blaming each other for the misspending.

They are currently in mediation to recoup $5.7 million in misspent restricted donor funds and pay vendors who have not been paid about $6 million collectively.

Last week, the city terminated the contracts with both of them.

Bazaldua said the termination was necessary because of how the contracts were written.

In order to terminate its contract with Oak View Group, the city had to first terminate Fair Park First’s agreement. The contract gave Fair Park First little authority over the park’s financial decisions, though Oak View Group contends it was acting under the nonprofit’s directions.

“It’s an opportunity for us to reset and look at mistakes of the past, and how this can better be structured, so that our nonprofit arm has a separate degree of accountability, and for us to be able to address issues with our for-profit arm in a different manner than what we had to in the past,” he said.

Bazaldua said the change is a positive step, rather than a negative one.

“We’re going to make sure the future of Fair Park is beneficial to the residents of South Dallas,” Bazaldua said.

“If our partner was not doing right by the agreement and the expectations of what we have for the future to look like, then pulling that contract, terminating it and resetting is keeping the focus on being able to deliver for the residents of South Dallas.”

Park Board President Arun Agarwal has said he wants a complete reset , though the city was grateful for the state grant. “Fair Park First has been given a 90-day termination notice,” he said, adding that the Park Board and the City Council still need to deliberate who they’ll pick as a partner to carry forward the construction of the park.

Lill has said the nonprofit will continue fundraising and developing the park as they always have.

But Agarwal had a different perspective.

Following the news conference, Agarwal told Lill to stop Fair Park First officials from making presumptive statements that “they will operate under a different arrangement, etc.,” according to a memo obtained by The Dallas Morning News.

“That needs to stop. This is incorrect, misleading, far from truth, creating confusion and not helping at all,” he said in his memo.

Bazaldua said that as the park nears its finish line, it’s important that there are no delays or divisions.

“Special interests and personal agendas must not stand in the way of progress that our community has earned, which is why the city of Dallas made a necessary change here in recent weeks,” Bazaldua said. “South Dallas has waited long enough. This opportunity will not come again. We must seize it with urgency and unity.”

With longtime leaders such as Lill, widely known for historic preservation, and community members such as developer Jason Brown, the nonprofit has been fighting to secure its future in Fair Park and has maintained that it has raised funds despite being under a contract that gave Oak View Group, its subcontractor, more power to make financial decisions.

Brown noted that the park has received support from local, state and federal entities.

“The folks at the table are committed to seeing it through,” Brown said.

Brown, whose family has been in South Dallas for generations, said the project is a promise more than 40 years in the making, and building the park is about restoring trust and returning the area to the community. The park will be a symbol of resilience and equity that its neighbors deserve, he said.

“I’ve seen what happens when promises are broken and when bad deals leave out our neighborhood,” Brown said. “I’ve also seen what’s possible when people come together with purpose and vision.”

The city has struggled for years to operate and maintain the vast complex. In 2019, the city accepted the bid for a public-private partnership that named Fair Park First as a nonprofit manager and Oak View Group as a subcontractor to oversee the park’s day-to-day operations.

Now, city officials and nonprofit leaders are worried the back-and-forth over Fair Park First’s future could impact donor confidence.

City officials have said they will sign a contract with a nonprofit to continue fundraising and plan to sign a separate development agreement to oversee the construction of the park. It’s unclear how much of a role Fair Park First will play after the city’s “reset.”

This reporting is part of the Future of North Texas, a community-funded journalism initiative supported by the Commit Partnership, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, the Dallas Mavericks, the Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose,, the McCune-Losinger Family Fund, The Meadows Foundation, the Perot Foundation, the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas and the University of Texas at Dallas. The News retains full editorial control of this coverage.

©2025 The Dallas Morning News. Visit dallasnews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.