The City of Dallas officially broke ground on a $5 million renovation project for the baseball field at Reverchon Park this week.
The park, located along the Katy Trail on Maple Avenue and Turtle Creek Boulevard in the Oak Lawn area of downtown Dallas, opened in 1914 and features many amenities for visitors, including baseball fields, outdoor basketball courts, sand volleyball courts, a playground, walking trails, picnic tables, and more.
The baseball field was added in the 1920s but has needed updates for some time. The last update to the stadium was when the bathrooms were renovated in the 1970s.
Previous plans to update the park have faced opposition. An attempt to lure minor league baseball to the stadium ultimately proved unsuccessful, and a $10 million plan resulted in a lawsuit from residents.
In early February, the Dallas City Council approved the contract for the latest updates, including a new playing field, dugouts, grandstands, bullpens, batting cages, concessions, and restrooms.
Texas Rangers Hall of Famer Michael Young helped contribute to the new ballpark.
Dallas ISD is paying for the upgrades, but the City will maintain park ownership.
North Dallas High School will use the park as the home field for its baseball teams, signing a 30-year contract. The team currently plays its home games at Pleasant Grove Field in Dallas, and the team finished the 2023 season in second place in District 12-4A before being eliminated from the playoffs by Van Alstyne in the bi-district round.
“It’s great to see the park still being used by regular people and the high school,” Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins told WBAP 820 Dallas-Fort Worth. “We don’t need to commercialize everything, and this is really a great outcome for the community.”
The project is expected to be done in two parts, the first part focusing on the field and the second part focusing on the grandstands. The project is scheduled to be finished in 2024.
“It’s going to be spectacular in the sense that it’s keeping 100 years of playing on that surface going,” Dallas Parks senior project manager Trent Williams told The Dallas Express in an interview.
“It won’t be this kind of massive, overbuilt field. It’ll be historically honest, but still provide a wonderful playing surface with good lights and the opportunity to keep the tradition of baseball at Reverchon going.”
