Dallas — According to a city letter, the City of Dallas has formally taken over Fair Park operations from the former corporation engaged to run them.
City authorities previously announced plans to end the city’s contract with Oak View Group (OVG), the private corporation appointed in 2019 to administer the Texas State Fairgrounds, and take over Fair Park operations earlier this year.
Dallas officials and OVG had been at differences about Fair Park maintenance, fund utilization, and utility repayments for months, with failed conversations taking place.
The situation culminated last week when Dallas Park and Recreation Department Director John Jenkins requested that city marshals increase patrols during the final days of OVG’s presence on Fair Park land to guarantee a seamless transition.
Jenkins stated last week that OVG had written a notification to people with contracts for events at Fair Park informing them, in part, that “your license agreement will terminate” when OVG’s management deal expired.
OVG earlier informed WFAA that it was in constant contact with the City and denied Jenkins’ claims. OVG further indicated that upon contract termination, it will hand over the contracts to the City, and that it has provided the City with access to the park’s event schedule as well as contact information for those presenting events there.
Finally, on September 16, OVG360 staff left Fair Park, according to an official memo, but not without controversy.
“The official handoff was well-organized. However, despite being requested in advance, OVG360 did not offer access or information about Fair Park’s operating accounts or balances,” according to the memo. “We will continue to assess the next steps necessary to assure recovery of all things requested.”
The City’s takeover of day-to-day management at Fair Park marks the end of a years-long tale.
In 2019, the City transferred control of Fair Park to the nonprofit Fair Park First, which engaged OVG (then known as Spectra) to manage the park’s day-to-day operations.
As the partners’ relationship deteriorated, details about the operations became public. In October, for example, the parties stated that Fair Park First received funds from donors and deposited them into OVG-controlled bank accounts.
Jenkins earlier stated in a memo that the “current organizational structure as prescribed by the management contract is flawed, limiting oversight.”
