Park News
New city park aims to revitalize northeast Dallas with social green space
Rendering of park being planned for Forest Audelia Village.
Dallas officials unveiled plans for a new park and multipurpose center to be built at Forest Audelia Village, with a goal to revitalize that area in northeast Dallas by providing a green space for residents to enjoy the outdoors, socialize, and encourage new businesses.
The city council approved the project in March.
The park will be built on a section of a city-owned shopping center located at 9759 Forest Ln., at the northwest corner of Audelia Road. Phase one will include construction of the outdoor space, and renovation of approximately 10,000 square feet of the shopping center interior, scheduled to be complete by the end of 2024.
According to a release, funding will be provided by the Skillman Corridor Tax Increment Financing District funds, the City of Dallas, and monies from the 2017 bond program. The cost to build the park is $1.9 million. The renovations will cost $5.6 million.
The park will span one acre sit on the southern end of the site facing Forest Lane and feature a playground, multi-use sport courts, pavilions, landscaping, and trees.
The building renovation will create a lobby area, fitness/exercise room, group exercise room, classrooms, child area, and space for four city departments: Dallas Public Library, Office of Arts and Culture, Dallas Police, and Dallas Park and Recreation.
In 2021, the groundwork was laid when the site was home a temporary pop-up park hosted by the Better Block Foundation and community leaders in the Forest-Audelia neighborhood, through an initiative with Project Safe Neighborhood and the Dallas Park and Recreation Department, to establish that crime could be addressed and community built through the creation of a public space. In 2022, the Park and Recreation Department install a permanent basketball court in the same location.
Dallas Park and Recreation Department Deputy Director Crystal R. Ross said in a statement that they were thrilled to bring recreation options to the community, "so families can feel a sense of community that parks and public spaces create when they come together," she said.
"Parks and recreational activities transform lives," Ross said. "Dallas is tearing down a section of this underused shopping center to build something new that will bring much-needed leisure and social infrastructure to this community."
