What is Old City Park Without the Artifacts? We Might Find Out if Dallas Doesn’t do Something Soon

I hope you read Part 1 of what is happening to Old City Park. To summarize, no one seems to have a solid plan, nor is there any effective communication from City of Dallas officials to the Dallas County Heritage Society (DCHS), the organization that has run the park for 51 years and, by all reports, would love to stay involved if the city can find funding because, come on, people can’t work for free.

We also went over how Old City Park has been passed over in the upcoming $1.2 billion bond package, which has millions for the Dallas Parks and Recreation Department. You might want to ask your councilperson why not.

In the second part of this story, I have tried to drill down into what is happening with artifacts, the master plan, what protections are in place for this amazing park, and most importantly, what the neighbors want.

The Artifacts That Make Old City Park

The City of Dallas owns the park and the buildings; however, the DCHS owns the artifacts. In other words, they own the items that make people want to come to Old City Park. Let’s face it: What’s the attraction of an empty grocery store or a house with nothing but wallpaper?

Evelyn Montgomery, Ph.D., was the director of collections, exhibits, and preservation at Old City Park for 15 years and is now the director of the Old Red Museum of Dallas County History and Culture.

“We have 22,000 artifacts, including furnishings, documents, and horse-drawn carriages.”

Montgomery said. According to DCHS, there has been no clear communication that the Dallas Parks and Recreation Department wants the artifacts inside the buildings. So the DCHS tells me they would love for the artifacts to stay, but no one from the Parks Department has communicated with the DCHS that they wish to keep these artifacts. And yes, I mentioned that to Dallas Parks and Recreation Department Director John Jenkins. So, Montgomery is required to actively sell the collection to interested entities, as it is DCHS’s responsibility to find them a home if the city does not step in pretty darn quick and say we want these items.

Protection For a Dallas History

This is parkland, and parkland is protected. Period. End of story.

Or is it?

OK. Yes, you can sell parkland, but you must first hold a public referendum, and whoever floated the nonsense about a city of over 1 million people not needing a referendum is wrong. Can you really see our citizens voting to sell Old City Park? It’s not happening. And we have smart, experienced stewards like Montgomery to ensure protections are in place.

Montgomery, who is also the current chair of the Dallas Landmark Commission, has initiated the process to protect Old City Park by making it an official historic city landmark. That means the buildings would be protected as well. It also prevents development from happening for up to two years. It’s not a done deal. Landmark designation eventually requires approval from not only the landmark commission but also the City Plan Commission and Dallas City Council. So indeed no building is going to be razed — not now anyway.

But think about this. If the buildings are emptied of their contents and there is no maintenance or repairs on the buildings and no security, what’s going to end up happening? We will have historic buildings falling apart and it will be much easier to say, it’s cost-prohibitive to restore them. I think you can see where this could lead.

The Master Plan And What’s Happening Right Now

The city has hired SWA Consultants. Principal Leah Hale told me they are in the process of surveying the property and existing conditions.

“We are looking at everything from the condition of the plant material to the walkways, drainage issues, the structural integrity of the buildings, and what needs to be repaired,” she said. “We plan on a June report to the city of the general conditions, and the next step would be a master plan or vision plan.”

If the plan is complete in June there is then the RFP (Request for Proposal) process that could take up to nine more months before a new contract is awarded to operate the park. So, what happens for up to 18 months if an extended agreement of some sort is not given to DCHS? Who provides security? Who provides programming? Why is there even programming if the buildings end up being empty? No DISD field trip is headed over to learn about Texas history if that happens.

And very pointedly, why is no one but John Jenkins, the Director of the Dallas Park and Recreation Department, saying they want DCHS to remain involved? DCHS has done an incredible job over the years with minimal funding, and it would be completely impossible to match their institutional knowledge and experience.

The original contract stated clearly that the city would maintain the buildings, yet they have not. DCHS has repeatedly found its own funding, but when you don’t have city buy-in, it is impossible to continue to attract philanthropic funding.

An email from Michael Meadows of the Meadows Family Consulting Group to Jenkins, District 2 Dallas City Councilperson Jesse Moreno, and a host of others involved in the process on November 2, 2022, makes it clear the DCHS cannot continue without funding and has indeed used their resources to keep the park running.

“I am providing this unedited version of our report in order to provide 100% transparency of the Park’s current situation. Please review this document as it will help you understand the pathway that our Board is currently following.

While I still agree with everything that Paul, Willis and I recommended in our report, serving as DCHS/Old City Park’s Interim CEO and putting together this year’s operating budget has been eye-opening and has altered my thinking regarding the operating subsidy needed from the City of Dallas to allow ANY operator to manage Old City Park effectively without incurring a large deficit every year. I now believe that the subsidy number needs to be in the $600K-$700K range annually. While I recognize this is a big jump from the amount the City has provided to DCHS for the last 50 years, the real cost of managing 22+ acres of park land and 30+ historic buildings is quite significant.

In fact, DCHS just bid out our security contract and the cost of having a single, unarmed security officer on grounds for 24 hours, seven days a week came to $208,000/annually. By comparison, our allocation from OAC for FY 2022-2023 is only $112,000, which means that DCHS is having to absorb a loss of $96,000 just to cover the cost of having one security guard on grounds. By contract, the City of Dallas is supposed to cover this security cost as well as all of the annual repairs and maintenance of the grounds and buildings. That has not been happening which helps explain why so many of the buildings are in bad shape.

The FY 2022-2023 expense budget for DCHS/Old City Park, which was approved by our Executive Board in September, is approximately $1.6M and projects an operating deficit of ($576K). This deficit will be funded out of our operating reserves and an unrestricted estate gift we received this past December. Our Board’s bottom line is that DCHS can and will absorb this year’s projected deficit but is unwilling to continue this practice in the future.

The Cedars And Other Neighborhoods

The voices the city should most consider are those of the Cedars residents. Christopher Weiss, neighborhood association president of the Cedars said the residents want to see their park maintained.

“We want to keep the programming but have more community engagement and different events, and take it from just a museum to a much more dynamic space for the downtown, the Farmers Market, and Deep Ellum folks, as well as The Cedars,” he said. “The design for the deck parks is starting, and we’d like to see the park integrated. That park is a gem in the city. Unfortunately, there is not a grand plan or a vision. We need to revive the oldest city park in Dallas. There is space for a soccer field and space for a basketball court. What is the city’s vision? As a neighborhood, we want continued engagement.”

I received this statement from Moreno just before publication:

“I am proud of Old City Park; it is the city’s first park! The park sits as an example of the historical significance our community holds in the City of Dallas. I have a connection with the park myself: personal milestones such as getting married there, watching my daughter grow up, and experiencing our rich cultures thrive in the City of Dallas. I am pleased to say that the Park isn’t going anywhere, and I will continue to advocate for its success as it transforms.

While management of the park will be changing hands to the City of Dallas Parks & Recreation Department, this will not change the purpose of Old City Park. There are no plans for the park to serve any purpose other than a community green space. It continues to be a place for families to play, dogs to run, and to catch some sun.

However, the park is starting to experience some infrastructural deficiencies and I want to make sure that the park remains a great place to relax. If you support Old City Park, I encourage you to let us Council Members know that you want bond funds allocated to the improvement of the park. Additionally, keep an eye out for ways that the City will be ensuring that community stakeholders can stay engaged in decisions involving Old City Park.”

What can we do?

• The park does not generate enough revenue to support the costs involved in operating it. It’s a business problem
• The city has to provide more funds, or private philanthropists are not going to contribute.
• This bond election in May COULD provide funds but at this point, it’s not in the works.
• DCHS is deeply interested in continuing a relationship with the Park Department to keep programming and artifacts in place but they, of course, must be funded to do so. No one has reached out to them to express what Jenkins expressed to me:

“We want DCHS to stay involved. Nobody is tossing artifacts. We can do an interim agreement with them to get us through this to complete the master plan.”

• If we are to take Moreno at his word, he only references green space and does not refer to any care for historic buildings or artifacts.

Yes, the animals are leaving. And if we are not vigilant, the artifacts will leave, and we will be left with a bunch of empty, historically significant buildings crumbling around our ears.

Call and email your city councilperson. Here is the link. Call and email your parks board representative here. Call and email your Parks Board Leadership.

And visit the park as soon as possible. It may be your last chance to see Old City Park with the artifacts in place.

And never forget, you have a voice. Use it.