顿补濒濒补蝉鈥� welcomes tens of thousands of Texans to the grounds every fall for the . And most of the year, it feels closed off to the general public. But there are to open up Fair Park to its nearby communities and to make it more accessible to greater Dallas.
The first part of that plan began last week. That鈥檚 when , a nonprofit charged with remaking Fair Park, selected a world-renowned landscape architecture firm to design a new 鈥渃ommunity park.鈥�
"Millions of citizens and visitors will benefit every year from the investment we're making to realize this extraordinary project. As an architect, I can't wait to see this transformation," said Darren L. James, President of the Fair Park First board.
According to a press release from Fair Park First, the new $39 million park will likely include a large lawn, a children's play area with an interactive water feature, naturalized plantings, remembrance gardens, a small pavilion for gatherings, and movable tables and chairs.
BREAKING: mia lehrer/studio-mla () announced as winner of competition for a community park at fair park. a major step in building design equity in dallas. ps: kicker on this story is kind of priceless and classic dallas.
— mark lamster (@marklamster)
The new 11-acre community park could redefine the city鈥檚 relationship with Fair Park, said Mark Lamster, the Dallas Morning News鈥� architecture critic.
鈥淔air Park is more like Fair Parking at the moment,鈥� Lamster said. 鈥淎nd this new park will really create a tremendous amount of green space. And it鈥檚 green space oriented towards the community that feels that it has been really shut out of Fair Park historically.鈥�
that the 鈥渃ommunity park鈥� will be built over a parking lot located on Fitzhugh Avenue on the east side of Fair Park鈥檚 277-acre campus. Additionally, in an interview with 四虎影院, Lamster said that the parking lot was built on land that was from South Dallas landowners.
鈥淭his area, in particular, was a part of the surrounding neighborhood before the land was expropriated from home and business owners to create more parking,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o, this is very much a returning of that land.鈥�
Lamster complimented Fair Park First for its selection of the Los Angeles-based Studio-MLA to design the project. And had good things to say about the firm鈥檚 founder, Mia Lehrer.
鈥淭hey have a really strong record doing projects at all different scales,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e done work on the , which is kind of like our own Trinity River Project. They鈥檝e done the landscape work for the $5.2 billion new NFL stadium. And Mia has done lots of smaller-scale parks too.鈥�
Lamster told 四虎影院 that Lehrer has a great track record of 鈥渨orking with communities鈥� to build parks that are 鈥渞esponsive鈥� to their actual needs and desires.
The 鈥渃ommunity park鈥� also plans to provide free programming for children, adults, and seniors.
A typical calendar of events during a week might include fitness classes, small musical performances, art workshops, drum circles, a reading room, and outdoor movies.
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