As Fair Park prepares to host the State Fair of Texas in three weeks, Dallas leaders are exploring new ways to activate the 277-acre icon and bring in more visitors year-round.
Dallas Park and Recreation assumes day-to-day operations of Fair Park on September 15, after terminating the contract with a private operator that managed the park since 2019.
Dallas Park and Recreation director John Jenkins said Friday the department is already working on strategies to activate more of Fair Park, like areas near the Leonhardt Lagoon and performance venues like the band shell.
“This is one of Dallas’, I feel, most underutilized asset,” Jenkins said. “We should be able to learn from that past and put together a plan that will ensure success going forward.”
Jenkins says long-term that means working with both the Dallas City Council, the Dallas Park and Recreation Board, and businesses to create more opportunities for retail, restaurants and hotels.
“In the (Fair Park) master plan, it does call for a hotel here,” Jenkins said. “We’re staying in line with the master plan.”
In the more immediate time frame, Jenkins, along with Ryan O’Connor, assistant director of Dallas Park and Recreation, are working to get venues like the band shell reactivated.
“This is kind of the space that’s ripe for programming opportunities,” O’Connor said.
Additionally, the two-year, $140 million renovation to the nearby Cotton Bowl is set to be completed later this month, which includes wider concourses, the addition of escalators, and luxury suites.