City Hall Roundup: Wings Arena Design, Residential Nuisances, Fair Park Potential
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Dallas City Hall is easing into the final stretch of the year, but the run-up to Christmas hasn’t slowed much in the way of project updates and important initiatives. Here’s some of what went down this past week.
Dallas Memorial Auditorium’s New Look
Apparently, the redevelopment of Dallas Memorial Auditorium is on track for delivery in 2027, and officials have released the latest design renderings for the future home arena of the Dallas Wings.
On Friday, Assistant City Manager Robin Bentley updated Dallas City Council on the design in a memo. Engineering and architecture teams finished up the design development stage of the project and are readying to move into the construction design phase.
“Interior planning focuses on the requirements of a WNBA arena, team needs, and the operational flexibility necessary for a wide range of events,” Bentley said. “The building program has been organized to improve entry efficiency, circulation clarity, and the overall fan and visitor experience. It also enhances team performance areas, optimizes service access, and maximizes functional use within the constraints of the existing footprint.”
The assistant city manager noted that the auditorium’s original brick structure will be honored and blended with new materials to give the arena a modern identity. The building’s seating bowl and concourses have been reconfigured in the design to support non-basketball events like concerts and conventions.
Dallas Memorial Auditorium’s redesign is part of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center redevelopment.
“The site plan acknowledges key adjacencies and leverages opportunities to seamlessly integrate with both the existing urban context and the evolving face of Downtown Dallas,” Bentley said.
Costs associated with the design will be finalized during the construction design phase when the various components of the build are priced on the market. McKissack & McKissack is the project manager, and M. Arthur Gensler, Jr. & Associates is the architectural and engineering services contractor.
The Wings also have a new practice facility in the works at Joey Georgusis Park in West Oak Cliff, which is expected to open in time for the team’s 2026 season.
Staff Follows Up on Residential Nuisance Property Complaints
Members on the Quality of Life, Arts & Culture Committee got an update on what the lay of the land looks like in terms of nuisance calls in residential neighborhoods. Staff drafted a memo compiling data from 311 and 911 calls for service related to residential light concerns, residential noise concerns, and loud music.
This effort stems from discussions at the committee level over how to mitigate alleged nuisance properties, not least of which has been the Preston Hollow mansion that’s gone viral for its Christmas lights.
Staff is also now surveying homeowners associations and residents on “noise, lighting, event-related activity, parking, and other neighborhood impacts” to get a sense of the scale of the problem, if there really is one. Preliminary results from the community input will be shared with the committee at its January meeting next year.
Fair Park Has Economic Potential, If the City Can Just Get There
Some council members seemed to be a little frustrated with Dallas Park & Recreation’s presentation on reimagining Fair Park operations, despite agreeing with its emphasis on economic activation.
On Monday, the Parks, Trails & Environment Committee heard from DPR about the department’s proposed hybrid operations model and potential revenue generators that could turn Fair Park into more of a year-round draw.
Staff want to maintain responsibility for maintenance, contract management, and community programming, but they think private partners with particular expertise should be brought in to handle things like event booking, promotion, parking, security, and venue management.
On the economic front, they want to aggressively pursue large-scale campus activations (concerts, festivals, local signature sports events, etc) at sites like the Cotton Bowl and the acreage around the Coliseum. Staff is also interested in integrating retail, restaurants, and hospitality in Fair Park in partnership with the Dallas Economic Development Corporation and the Office of Economic Development.
Conspicuously absent was any mention of Fair Park Dallas or Oak View Group, the city’s previous management partners whose contracts were scrapped after years of alleged mismanagement and misuse of funds, or the Community Park promised by the 2020 master plan for the area that remains unrealized.
Apparently, the city attorney’s office advised that discussion should be limited to how the agenda item was constructed: the broad strokes of a new operating model and economic opportunities.
“I will say to our city attorney’s office, I’m tired of the way that things are being put on an agenda that gags us,” Council Member Adam Bazaldua (District 7) said. “We’ve got major business in the city that we need to discuss, and I don’t like it being parceled and siloed out for us to not actually get to the elephant in the room. … I think it’s very political and strategic, and it really limits and hinders us as the governing body.”
Bazaldua claimed a lot of the work on Fair Park tends to be compartmentalized, leading to dysfunction. He suggested the city manager and council members be more involved given the importance of the asset and the undertaking DPR wants to initiate.
“The reason why Fair Park is in the disarray that we’re in is because we have siloed the park out for so long,” he said. “Another piece that I did not see here in the presentation is specific figures on the deferred maintenance needs that are there.”
Staff said a thorough business plan accounting for critical elements like deferred maintenance, funding needs, and previously approved projects like the Community Park will be produced.
“What we wanted to do today was to present the vision to make sure everyone is kind of on the same page,” said DPR Deputy Director Ryan O’Connor.
Frustrations with process aside, as long as the local community gets in on the action, everyone on the committee seemed on board with taking a proactive approach to unlocking Fair Park’s economic potential.
Dallas EDC Will Head Up City Hall Evaluation
It looks like the Dallas Economic Development Corporation will take up the task of assessing 1500 Marilla St.’s structural condition and repair costs as well as City Hall relocation or redevelopment options.
EDC will partner with the infrastructure consulting company AECOM to update a previous report on the building’s condition. Construction and engineering experts will lend a helping hand, donating their services to come up with some independent cost projections. Other parties like Downtown Dallas, Inc. and the architecture and design outfit Corgan will survey the downtown office landscape to get an idea of how much it could cost to relocate city operations.
The city will reimburse EDC’s expenses up to $300,000 for taking up the project. Linda McMahon, EDC’s CEO, said the group would be open to bringing on additional experts to help with the task, according to The Dallas Morning News.
