SPI Insights

The city of Dallas has approved a plan to partner with Dallas ISD for the development, operation, and use of a historic park and baseball field in the middle of a busy urban corridor.

Following the City Council’s May 25 vote of approval for the Reverchon Park and Baseball Field partnership, Dallas ISD is now set to contribute $5 million to the project for improvements to the park’s recreational facilities. These new and refurbished features will include a baseball field, batting cages, parking improvements, restrooms, equipment storage, and concession facilities.

The interlocal agreement to revitalize Reverchon Park’s ballfield, which was originally constructed in 1917, is scoped to encourage equitable and sustainable access to local parks and recreational attractions. The project was originally spearheaded by a task force to restore the park and ballfield after years of neglected maintenance.

That task force was responsible for arranging the conditions of partnership between the city and school district, including the value of Dallas ISD’s contribution and the benefit it would receive in turn. Beyond providing a revitalized historical greenspace for community members, the Reverchon Park and Baseball Field partnership establishes a 30-year venue from which Dallas ISD’s North Dallas High School can maintain baseball programming, despite lacking campus space for a field of its own.

A forecasted timeline for the park renovation project suggests the baseball field — the site of more than 100 years of baseball memories for generations of community members — could once again be ready for use as early as spring 2023.