Matt Tolentino, a full-time musician and former Dallas resident, said he used to go to Old City Park as a kid to check out the exhibits, old historic buildings and animals there. He’d also attend the park's annual holiday event called Candlelight.
Then, as an adult, he threw an event of his own at the park every March called the Jazz Age Sunday Social Festival. This took place every year from 2014 to 2019. Then, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, putting the event on pause, until he held the last one in 2022. The musician said he’s worried what selling the nearly 22,000 artifacts will do to the park.
“What made this special was bridging the past to the present by having those buildings with all the belongings in them,” Tolentino said. “My concern is them getting rid of the artifacts is just going to lead to ultimately getting rid of the buildings altogether. That would be my biggest concern.”
History of Old City Park
Michael Meadows, interim CEO of Dallas County Heritage Society, which operates Old City Park, said it is Dallas’ first and oldest public park. Founded in 1876, the park (originally just called City Park) has evolved to meet the community’s needs and interests over the years.“The park was lots of different things through the years,” Meadows said.
In 1957, the construction of Interstate 30 cut off Old City Park from downtown. The park fell into neglect after that, Meadows said. Eventually, a group of women dedicated to historic preservation approached the city and convinced it to move the Millermore antebellum plantation house to the park. It was the first of many historic structures transferred there over the years. Then, working closely with the city’s park and recreation department, the women were able to help raise money to develop the park into a unique, living history museum with over 30 historic buildings and structures that date back to 1841.
The women wanted to focus on the time period between 1840 and 1910. “And the rationale was, that was before cars screwed up the city,” Meadows said.“It’s very sad to close our operations." – Michael Meadows, Dallas County Heritage Society
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Then, in 1967, the city contracted with Dallas County Heritage Society to program and manage the museum and park. Through the years, the organization has worked closely with Dallas’ park and recreation department to restore all of the historic buildings and move them to the park. They also worked together to purchase additional land for Old City Park.
What’s Happening With the Park Now?
The Dallas County Heritage Society’s contract to run the park and museum expired on May 26, 2023. That’s when the city asked if the Society could manage the park and museum for one more year. Meadows said it’s his understanding that the park and recreation department could not renew the contract after that year without going through a request for proposals process.Before the city did that, though, it wanted to conduct a master planning process to develop a blueprint for the park’s future. After that master plan is complete, the city plans to put out a request for proposals to hire a new private partner to manage Old City Park. This might not happen until some time in 2026. “They [the city] had said to us at the time, ‘Look, if the master plan says come back and run it as a living history museum, then you all would be very qualified to do that, and you’d be welcome to apply,’” Meadows recalled.
But with the city managing the park in the interim, which could last a year and a half to three years, and there being nothing for current park employees to do during that time, Meadows said it seemed best to let the contract expire and find new ways to support Old City Park.
Now, the Dallas County Heritage Society is transitioning to become a new organization with a new name that will work to advocate for and financially support Old City Park. The organization just won’t run the programming or manage any of the buildings there. “It’ll largely be a volunteer organization,” Meadows said.
Financial Woes and the Future of Old City Park
Meadows said before the COVID-19 pandemic, annual attendance at the park was around 50,000. About half of that was coming from school visits and another 20% from special events. Annual paid attendance was less than 10,000. “It was not enough to sustain the organization,” he said. “As a result, our organization had been losing literally hundreds of thousands of dollars for a very long time.” If it weren’t for major gifts to the park and the sale of some of the property the organization owned, it likely would have gone out of business long before its contract with the city expired.“It’s very sad to close our operations,” Meadows said. “It’s not what anybody wants to do. Everybody is very committed to teaching a true and full history of Dallas. But at the same time, the business model just hasn’t worked.”
He said what some people don’t understand is the Dallas County Heritage Society has nearly 22,000 items in its collection that it has acquired over the years. Some of them were donated and others were purchased. “We've got a huge collection that includes furnishings, art, quilts, China, office equipment and furniture for our offices and then a myriad of other items,” Meadows said. “It runs the full gamut of everything you would need to re-create a real life experience in that particular time period.”
Because the park is an accredited museum, Meadows said he and his team are doing what they can to follow professional best practices in the disposition of the collections. So far, historically significant items have been offered to other museums, libraries, archives and nonprofits that plan to protect and use them for educational purposes.
Some items will be left behind in the buildings, like the bar and piano in the old saloon at the park. Removing these things could destroy the historic nature of the buildings, Meadows said.
The only options for the rest of the items was to give them away, throw them away or sell them. They’ve chosen to sell the items at an estate sale at the park that will take place from April 29 to May 4. The funds raised through the estate sale will be used “for the long-term benefit of Old City Park,” Meadows said.
Then, the city will take over management of the park later in May. John D. Jenkins, director of Dallas’ Park and Recreation Department, said in an emailed statement that the department will oversee all aspects of the park’s operations starting on May 27 and it will no longer be registered as a museum. “While Old City Park will no longer be registered as a museum, visitors can expect a museum-like experience when exploring the historic buildings on the 20-acre property,” Jenkins’ email said.
The department has no plans to demolish the historic structures or sell any part of the property, he said. “Dallas Park and Recreation is committed to preserving and temporarily managing this historic site,” he said. “Plans for the park will include identifying a management group or organization to oversee the parkland and its museum operations once community input meetings and a master plan are completed.”
Not Enough Support
Since the city hasn’t been very involved in the management of the park over the years, Meadows said the park seems to have been forgotten. That could change when it's under the city’s control. “This park has not seen a significant investment of bond dollars, it hasn’t received a lot of support from the city of Dallas,” Meadows said. “The fact that they’re going to take this over, I think is going to give them an opportunity to learn how complex this park is, to figure out what pieces of this park they are committed to retaining.”For Dallas County Heritage Society to keep managing the park, the city would have to put more money into it, he said. His hope is that whoever takes over management of the park long term has a more equitable financial arrangement with the city. If the city invests in the park, those dollars could be matched by private donors, which could take the park from being average or good to outstanding, he added. Meadows has been told by philanthropists that they’d be happy to invest in the park but only after seeing equal investment from the city.
Since recent news about the park broke, much of the reaction he's seen has been disheartening to Meadows. If people care about the park, he said they should stay in contact with the park and recreation director and their representatives about it.
“The reason that the park is in the position it's in right now and the condition that it is in is because people just kind of have forgotten about it,” he said. “They haven't come out here. They haven't used it. They haven't made contributions to it. I don't know of a single park or cultural asset that flourishes when nobody visits, or not enough people visit or not enough people contribute.”
He said there have been some loyal people who have contributed to the park over the years, but this needs to happen on a greater scale if it is to reach its full potential.
“I think it's got such great bones and such great potential to be much more than it is right now,” Meadows said. “I think it can be, but people are going to have to step up and get active and advocate for it. Rather than hand-wringing and being angry, you know, turn that around and say, ‘OK, I'm going to do something about it.’”
