The city and operator Oak View Group had been at odds over maintenance, use of funds and utility payments at the park.
DALLAS — The city of Dallas will take back over day-to-day operations at Fair Park and cancel its contract with Oak View Group, the private company hired in 2019 to manage the “Crown Jewel of South Dallas” and home of the State Fair of Texas, the city announced Wednesday.
Dallas Park and Recreation Department Director John Jenkins told WFAA the decision to cut ties came after months of mediation did not make progress. There will be a 90-day transition period before the city takes over formally — but Jenkins said he has a team on the ground at the park to assume responsibility immediately.
The city has complained for months of issues with OVG, including claiming the operator owes millions in utility payments, has neglected important maintenance and misallocated millions of donated dollars.
A spokesperson for OVG did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
City Council Member Adam Bazaldua, who represents the area around Fair Park, applauded the decision in a statement sent shortly after the termination was issued.
“This is a decision that I wholeheartedly standby, as I want to ensure fiscal responsibility and transparency are at the top of the list for anyone the City of Dallas chooses to do business with,” he wrote. “We must track the impact when decisions are made, and when mistakes are made, we must course correct. This decision is designed to put us back on course in revitalizing Fair Park and ensuring its future.”
Dallas City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert said the city is working with all stakeholders to maintain the park.
“This decision reflects our commitment to ensuring sound stewardship and transparent management of this beloved public asset,” she said in a statement.
The termination of the management agreement ends a six year-saga of what many call a convoluted contract that was doomed from the start.
In 2019, the city relinquished control of the park to a newly-created nonprofit called Fair Park First, which in turn hired OVG (then called Spectra) to oversee day-to-day operations. Dallas still owned the land and had a significant financial stake in progress at the facility.
But as the triangular relationship frayed between the three parties, details of the ineffective workings of the contract became public. Fair Park First, for example, fundraised money from donors into bank accounts controlled by OVG, the parties said in October.
In his memo to council explaining the decision to terminate the agreement, Jenkins wrote the “current organizational structure as prescribed by the management contract is flawed, limiting oversight.”
One unanswered question: what happens to Fair Park First? The city issued the termination letter to that entity, which effectively ends the nonprofit’s contract with OVG, the city said in a statement.
Jenkins said the details of what happens with Fair Park First are still being worked out.
“We’re working on making sure we still have a nonprofit, to continue with improvements at Fair Park, such as the Community Park,” he said.
The Chair of the Fair Park First board, former Council Member Veletta Forsythe-Lill, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.