8 April 25 - MAy 1, 2024 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents cility and include classrooms, a gym and workout facility, and virtual reality training technology for officers at all levels. If ap- proved, it will serve new recruits, supervi- sors, civilian employees and law enforcement from across the state. It would also be the new home of the Caruth Police Institute. Dollars are already committed for the project. In February, the city and UNT Dal- las received a $10 million grant from Com- munities Foundation of Texas to go toward the proposed facility. In 2023, the Texas leg- islature committed $20 million for the proj- ect. Now, voters are being asked to help pay for the rest of the facility’s costs. DPD’s current training facility, opened in 1990, was meant to be temporary. The years have not been kind to the old location. “Our academy, as it is now, is embarrassing,” Dal- las Police Chief Eddie García said at a Public Safety Committee meeting last year. “It’s not what this city and this department stands for. It’s amazing the training that goes on at the academy. It’s amazing the men and women that graduate from the academy. But we need a better product.” The DPD did not reply to the questions we submitted regarding complaints about the training facility’s location prior to publi- cation. If approved, construction of the facil- ity would start in 2025 with completion expected in 2027. Neal worries about the effect the facility could have on the surrounding community. “You don’t get to come train in our com- munities and then take that same training two blocks, three blocks, four blocks, five blocks over and inflict that harm,” Neal said. “You don’t get to box us in. We tell you how we want public safety to run in our commu- nities.” Voting on all bond propositions takes place on May 4. Early voting runs April 22– 30. ▼ CITY HALL BEGINNING OF THE END NEW PLANS AFOOT FOR OLD CITY PARK. BY JACOB VAUGHN O ld City Park in Dallas has been man- aged by the same organization for more than 50 years, but that is set to change in May. The transition has some worried about the future of the park and the nearly 22,000 historic artifacts there. News broke recently that the artifacts would be sold during an estate sale starting this month. Matt Tolentino, a full-time musician and former Dallas resident, said he used to go to Old City Park as a kid to check out the exhib- its, old historic buildings and animals there. He’d also attend the park’s annual holiday event called Candlelight. Then, as an adult, he threw an event of his own at the park every March called the Jazz Age Sunday Social Festival. This took place every year from 2014 to 2019. Then, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, putting the event on pause, until he held the last one in 2022. The musician said he’s worried what selling the nearly 22,000 artifacts will do to the park. “What made this special was bridging the past to the present by having those buildings with all the belongings in them,” Tolentino said. “My concern is them getting rid of the artifacts is just going to lead to ultimately getting rid of the buildings altogether. That would be my biggest concern.” History of Old City Park Michael Meadows, interim CEO of Dallas County Heritage Society, which operates Old City Park, said it is Dallas’ first and old- est public park. Founded in 1876, the park (originally just called City Park) has evolved to meet the community’s needs and interests over the years. “The park was lots of different things through the years,” Meadows said. In 1957, the construction of Interstate 30 cut off Old City Park from downtown. The park fell into neglect after that, Mead- ows said. Eventually, a group of women dedicated to historic preservation approached the city and convinced it to move the Miller- more antebellum plantation house to the park. It was the first of many historic struc- tures transferred there over the years. Then, working closely with the city’s park and recreation department, the women were able to help raise money to develop the park into a unique, living history mu- seum with over 30 historic buildings and structures that date back to 1841. The women wanted to focus on the time period between 1840 and 1910. “And the rationale was, that was before cars screwed up the city,” Meadows said. Then, in 1967, the city contracted with Dallas County Heritage Society to program and manage the museum and park. Through the years, the organization has worked closely with Dallas’ park and recreation de- partment to restore all of the historic build- ings and move them to the park. They also worked together to purchase additional land for Old City Park. What’s Happening With the Park Now? The Dallas County Heritage Society’s con- tract to run the park and museum expired on May 26, 2023. That’s when the city asked if the Society could manage the park and museum for one more year. Meadows said it’s his understanding that the park and recreation department could not re- new the contract after that year without going through a request for proposals pro- cess. Before the city did that, though, it wanted to conduct a master planning process to de- velop a blueprint for the park’s future. After that master plan is complete, the city plans to put out a request for proposals to hire a new private partner to manage Old City Park. This might not happen until some time in 2026. “They [the city] had said to us at the time, ‘Look, if the master plan says come back and run it as a living history mu- seum, then you all would be very qualified to do that, and you’d be welcome to apply,’” Meadows recalled. But with the city managing the park in the interim, which could last a year and a half to three years, and there being nothing for current park employees to do during that time, Meadows said it seemed best to let the contract expire and find new ways to sup- port Old City Park. Now, the Dallas County Heritage Society is transitioning to become a new organiza- tion with a new name that will work to ad- vocate for and financially support Old City Park. The organization just won’t run the programming or manage any of the build- ings there. “It’ll largely be a volunteer orga- nization,” Meadows said. Financial Woes and the Future Meadows said before the COVID-19 pandemic, annual attendance at the park was around 50,000. About half of that was coming from school visits and another 20% from special events. Annual paid attendance was less than 10,000. “It was not enough to sustain the organization,” he said. “As a result, our organization had been losing literally hundreds of thousands of dollars for a very long time.” If it weren’t for major gifts to the park and the sale of some of the property the organization owned, it likely would have gone out of business long before its contract with the city expired. “It’s very sad to close our operations,” Meadows said. “It’s not what anybody wants to do. Everybody is very committed to teach- ing a true and full history of Dallas. But at the same time, the business model just hasn’t worked.” He said what some people don’t under- stand is the Dallas County Heritage Society has nearly 22,000 items in its collection that it has acquired over the years. Some of them were donated and others were purchased. “We’ve got a huge collection that includes furnishings, art, quilts, China, office equip- ment and furniture for our offices and then a myriad of other items,” Meadows said. “It runs the full gamut of everything you would need to re-create a real life experience in that particular time period.” Because the park is an accredited mu- seum, Meadows said he and his team are do- ing what they can to follow professional best practices in the disposition of the collec- tions. So far, historically significant items have been offered to other museums, librar- ies, archives and nonprofits that plan to pro- tect and use them for educational purposes. Some items will be left behind in the buildings, like the bar and piano in the old saloon at the park. Removing these things could destroy the historic nature of the buildings, Meadows said. The only options for the rest of the items was to give them away, throw them away or sell them. They’ve chosen to sell the items at an estate sale at the park that will take place from April 29 to May 4. The funds raised through the estate sale will be used “for the long-term benefit of Old City Park,” Mead- ows said. Then, the city will take over management of the park later in May. John D. Jenkins, di- rector of Dallas’ Park and Recreation De- partment, said in an emailed statement that the department will oversee all aspects of the park’s operations starting on May 27 and it will no longer be registered as a museum. “While Old City Park will no longer be regis- tered as a museum, visitors can expect a mu- seum-like experience when exploring the historic buildings on the 20-acre property,” Jenkins’ email said. The department has no plans to demol- ish the historic structures or sell any part of the property, he said. “Dallas Park and Recreation is committed to preserving and temporarily managing this historic site,” he said. “Plans for the park will include identifying a management group or orga- nization to oversee the parkland and its museum operations once community in- put meetings and a master plan are com- pleted.” Not Enough Support Since the city hasn’t been very involved in the management of the park over the years, Meadows said the park seems to have been forgotten. That could change when it’s under the city’s control. “This park has not seen a significant investment of bond dollars, it hasn’t received a lot of support from the city of Dallas,” Meadows said. “The fact that they’re going to take this over, I think is going to give them an opportunity to learn how complex Unfair Park from p6 Brian Maschino Dallas Heritage Village at Old City Park will be selling its artifacts this month. >> p10
