06/11/04  Expensive Parks Downtown

While I listened to part of the discussion about the "Masterplan" for downtown parks, I could not believe the amount of money the city is considering spending on such tiny parcels of land.  

To spend $10 million for 2 acres for a park is ridiculous when the city is neglecting existing parks all over Dallas.

For the past 2 years, the Friends of Oak Cliff Parks have been working to restore four of the oldest neglected parks in Oak Cliff.  This is a private/public partnership that costs the city almost nothing.

The largest park is Kiest, which was donated to the city in the 1930's by Edwin Kiest -- back when business folk cared enough about Dallas to donate land to the city without an expectation of financial reward.   

Unfortunately, our city is now filled with business folks who try and milk the taxpayer for every penny possible.  

If the city wants to spend $10-15 million dollars on parks, I can point out dozens of existing neglected parks around Dallas that should be fixed first before three new parks are built Downtown that cannot be paid for with existing funding.