A new City park is being built in a high-crime corner of northeast Dallas.
On Wednesday, the City Council approved funding for the construction of a new park at the corner of Forest Lane and Audelia Road. The location is currently the site of a strip mall and has long been considered a hotbed for crime.
The location has been the frequent subject of 911 calls made to Dallas police for years regarding alleged drug activity and violent crime.
Last year, a woman was killed in a shooting that occurred in this area. In the same incident, her daughter was shot in the stomach and taken to the hospital. In November, a man was killed in a hit-and-run accident that occurred near the same corner.
A police substation will be included in the recreation center being built alongside the park, which could help alleviate the burden crime has imposed on this area, as reported in The Dallas Morning News.
“When I first started meeting with the youth in this area, the request was, ‘Can we get a swing set?'” said Council Member Adam McGough last month, per The Dallas Morning News. “That was the level of need that they have here.”
The design and construction of the park will cost Dallas taxpayers about $7.5 million. The park itself will include a playground, a basketball court, and a pavilion along with other amenities.
A multipurpose recreation center will be built alongside the park. In addition to the police substation, it will include a recreation center and a library. A boxing gym already found at the site will be preserved.
The neighborhood park is the first phase of the project and will cost about $1.9 million, while the second phase — the recreation center — will cost about $5.6 million.
The resolution adopted by the City Council on Wednesday extends the Skillman Corridor Tax Increment Financing District to include the area where the park will be built. The City will then be able to allocate $5.5 million in tax dollars from that district to this project.
The item was approved with no discussion from the council members. The additional $2 million of spending needed will be drawn from other City funds.
With funding for the park now approved by the City Council, construction could reportedly begin as early as this spring.