On January 27, legendary former Dallas Cowboy Emmitt Smith led a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the inaugural launch of the Innovation Center at 4315 South Lancaster Road in South Dallas, within the East Oak Cliff area.
Emmitt Smith purchased the building in 2019 and renovated it to become a highly intentional, collaborative space for ventures in retail, commerce, and neighborhood revitalization to prosper.
The University of North Texas at Dallas (UNT Dallas) will offer opportunities at the Innovation Center that include its Community Youth Development Program, and law-enforcement professional development workshops to foster intergenerational and cross-cultural understanding.
Executive Director of Pre-Collegiate Programs at UNT Dallas Nakia Douglas emphasized the intentionality of the UNT Dallas and Innovation Center partnership, saying, “It’s going to become one of the epicenters of events happening here in southern Dallas. Specifically, we get to serve students as young as 6 years old to 17 years old in a variety of holistic perspectives from recreational, social, emotional, academic, leadership development, [and] mentorship. We’re being [very] intentional about being holistic in support.”
Celebrating the grand opening alongside Emmitt Smith were elected officials, members representing UNT Dallas leadership, and local business partners. During the event, speakers shared recollections of how the building, located across from the Dallas VA Medical Center, has emerged from a former eyesore to an inspiration.
According to Dallas District 4 City Councilwoman Carolyn King Arnold, “Mr. Emmitt Smith made a commitment and said to me, ‘I am committed to this community.’ And that was a plus for me.” She went on to vow to Smith, “You have brought it here and now it is our job to take advantage of it.”
Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, who was also present at the event, and was employed as a nurse at the Dallas VA Medical Center before she entered politics fifty years ago, enthused, “It made me very, very happy to see this facility turning to what we call the gold-mine training.
Emmitt Smith expressed, “Much has been given to me and I have an opportunity to take this platform which God has blessed me with and share with others. And I’m trying to share it in the best way that I can, by inspiring others to be on a level of greatness. And this center has a lot of potential for that. And as we continue to grow as a community, and as people, and we look beyond the barriers of limitations, and knock these walls down, we can become a better society.”
