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HISTORY OF JUBILEE PARK
The Jubilee Project originated at St. Michael & All Angels Episcopal Church in 1997. Its purpose was to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the church in a unique way. Rather than build a new addition to the church, the congregation decided to “adopt” a community adjacent to North Fair Park. This 50-block area is bounded by I-30, East Grand and Haskell is composed of primarily Hispanic and African-American residents with very low income. The mission of the Jubilee Project is to help residents regenerate their neighborhood and improve the quality of life for all the residents, but especially the children.
Initial Phase
The Jubilee Park and Community Center Corporation was formed as a 501(c)(3), tax exempt, non-profit entity in 1997. That year Jubilee bought two lots at 907 and 917 Bank Street. With the help of Habitat for Humanity, the Jubilee Center was built. The buildings are used by the Jubilee staff to conduct a variety of outreach programs. These programs include educating children and adults, providing home repair, assisting with medical and dental care, offering special meals to children and senior citizens, and other activities including helping identify critical needs for the area. The outreach program has involved the Greater Dallas Community of Churches, AmeriCorps, and the Enterprise Foundation as well as countless church and other volunteers.
The Community Needed a Park
The lack of playground facilities was voiced early on as the most critical need of the neighborhood by children as well as school officials and adults in the area. The O.M. Roberts Elementary School located six blocks away had only a postage stamp-size playground, taken up mostly with portable buildings and an asphalt parking lot. Driving the neighborhood in the afternoon, one could see youth milling around on their front porches or at the convenience store with nothing to do.
Another need was the lack of a catalyst to rejuvenate the community. Adults and families had no place to congregate. The neighborhood had been in decline for decades and residents felt helpless to turn things around. The resident population is composed of families hard pressed to make ends meet and senior citizens with very low income. There were a number of dilapidated or abandoned houses and many weed-infested, vacant lots that had been used for decades as a dumping ground for tires, asphalt shingles, syringe needles, whiskey bottles, among other things. (The abundance of these vacant lots and abandoned homes turned out to be an opportunity rather than a liability.)
And so the concept for the Jubilee Park was born in 1998. If it could be developed, Jubilee Park would provide a quiet, safe, attractive place for the children and adults to play and congregate.
The Park’s First Steps – Securing the Funds and Acquisition of Land
The dream of creating the Jubilee Park was presented to some church members in 1998. Several agreed to anonymously fund the land acquisition. Thanks to those special benefactors, Jubilee started to acquire as many lots adjacent to the Jubilee Center buildings as possible. It turned out that almost 50 parcels were identified around the area bounded by Bank Street, Gurley Avenue, South Carroll, and Parry. Jubilee established some ground rules for its lot acquisition program. First, no owner was asked to donate their land or finance the sale; instead, cash was paid. Second, the appraised value or better was paid for every lot acquired.
The acquisition of land in the Jubilee Park has been a very difficult yet rewarding experience. The rich cultural history embedded in this area became evident as the lot owners were contacted and discussions began. From 1998 to the present, over 50 lots have been acquired. There are still seven lots to be acquired to complete the entire block.
The impediments to acquiring lots were as follows:
1. It was difficult to trace the chain of title and determine who owned the lots. Most of the lots were acquired by intestate succession. (The Jubilee Project plans to recruit volunteer attorneys to prepare wills for residents so this problem is not perpetuated.)
2. It was difficult to find all known owners of each lot. (e.g., one lot had at least 15 owners. It took two years, two private search firms, the internet, and private detective to find the last owner who owned only 6%.)
3. Some owners were suspicious that the land would be used for-profit purposes and not as a park. One elderly lot owner, concerned about the earlier Fair Park land acquisition program, was convinced that Jubilee Park wanted to build a high-rise building.
4. Some owners lived on the property. Jubilee required that the owner have a comparable or better space in which to move. This was in spite of the fact that their house might have been in dire need of repair and near condemnation.
(Today in Dallas there is a need for over 30,000 low-income houses. The problem is not for younger families who have an income. The big problem is with the elderly on welfare who live in terrible housing but cannot afford to go elsewhere. There are currently no programs available that can fund the full $60,000-$100,000 required to move them into other facilities.)
5. One owner knew Jubilee needed his property to complete the park and could drive a very hard bargain. We had to convince him to sell and at a price that would not bankrupt the budget.
The Park Improvements
After a significant number of lots were acquired, Jubilee started on park improvements. The land was cleaned up, dead trees removed and pruned, and the open areas plowed. Snow Excavation did some of the removal. However, the bulk of the work was performed by Marvin Boldin, an African American who not only operated the heavy plowing and trash loading equipment but also tutored the kids in chess. He removed at least sixteen, 30-cubic yard dumpsters filled with trash and debris. He plowed the proposed ball field about ten times, each time uncovering more glass, pipe, and rock that could have posed a danger to the kids.
After the park was graded, Jubilee installed an underground sprinkler system that was donated by Telsco Industries. Park lamps and special lighting for the basketball courts were given by Hossley Lighting Associates and were installed by Alman Electric. Villanueva Ironworks installed a wrought iron fence around the entire perimeter and another minority contractor built the brick columns and entrance features. The field was hydromulched, then specially hand-seeded with Bermuda seed, and finally pallets of mature grass planted on the high use areas. Through other private donations, park benches and trash receptacles were added. More recently, Tru-Green Landscaping is providing free fertilizing and weed control for the entire park.
The next step was to put facilities in the park. Jubilee teamed with Nike Shoes and KaBOOM! to help build a children’s playground. Other private benefactors using minority contractors built four outdoor basketball courts. More recently, Jubilee has worked with the Dallas Maverick Foundation, which will provide a Sports Court surface for the basketball courts. In addition, Jubilee found an abandoned house next to the park that was slated for demolition. Thanks to help from the City of Dallas, volunteers worked over two, hot July weekends in 1999 and literally saved the house from the jaws of the wrecking crew and turned it into the “Cross-town Cowboy Locker Room”. A wonderful group of coaches donated athletic equipment for a Pop Warner football team that is stored in the “Locker Room”. SunFest Security and A-All Pest Control provided free security and extermination service for the Locker Room and the Dallas Mavericks players did more fix up to the house. Because of the heavy usage, other volunteers and another landscape firm planted more grass and shrubs.
Jubilee cannot thank Paul Dyer and his staff enough for all their help during the construction period. They provided valuable advice on the sprinkler system, the type of grass to use, some of the pitfalls of park operation and countless other details.
Jubilee Park – Present and Future
The official Jubilee Park dedication ceremony took place September 22, 2000. It was well attended by City of Dallas, Dallas Independent School District and other officials as well as neighbors and volunteers.
The Jubilee Park seeks to serve as a focal point for the neighborhood and aid other functions of the Jubilee Project. Since fall 1999, 120 young boys aged 8 to 13 practice football on the Jubilee Park field, encouraged by 75 young girl cheerleaders coached by almost 75-80 adults. Senior citizens, adults, and children come to the Jubilee Park for picnics, quiet time and recreation. In the summer of 2001, Jubilee will offer soccer clinics, baseball clinics and other summertime playground activities for the kids. The Dallas Mavericks will be conducting a basketball clinic sometime in the fall. Teachers from the O.M. Roberts School routinely bring their children to the park for field trips. The Science Place and Jubilee hope to team up and provide interesting outdoor events at the park. More emphasis will be placed on activities for girls in the park.
Jubilee Park has received many testimonials from area residents saying that the park has been a catalyst to rejuvenate the entire neighborhood. Jubilee is also happy to report that there are still two roosters and three hens there that consider themselves the true and original owners of Jubilee Park.
The Dallas Police assigned Officer Sheldon Smith to help with park security and ensure that the park is drug-free, alcohol-free and weapon-free. More progress must be made. Plans are underway to convene a task force composed of the District Attorney, the head of DEA and Dallas Police Department to help residents make the entire neighborhood safe and secure.
Most recently, a corner of the Jubilee Park has been leased to another non-profit organization started by the church to aid the Jubilee Project’s educational outreach. David’s Place, named after the deceased son and husband respectively of the two principal donors, will be built and opened as a Head Start school in January 2002. The building will be funded by the TI Foundation and the two donors. The school will be operated with Head Start funding.
Much remains to be done. Additional lots to “square off the park” must be acquired if donors can be recruited and suitable, alternative living quarters found for the lot owners. Jubilee seeks more involvement in the governance of the park by the residents. This includes getting youth to assist in keeping it clean and eliminating all alcohol and gambling in the park at night and on the weekends. In addition, some additional facilities may be needed – especially park benches and trash containers. Jubilee appreciates the maintenance help it is receiving from Billy Davis and the City of Dallas Park Maintenance Department.
In the future, Jubilee seeks to serve the wonderful people in the area by working behind the scenes and helping them improve the quality of life in their entire neighborhood. Hopefully, the Jubilee Park will continue to be a significant, positive force in making that happen.
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