Fair Park, Dallas, Texas

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

(Redirected from Fair Park)
Jump to: navigation, search
The Texas Star, North America's largest ferris wheel at the State Fair of Texas
Enlarge
The Texas Star, North America's largest ferris wheel at the State Fair of Texas

The curved exedra at the entrance of the Hall of State
Enlarge
The curved exedra at the entrance of the Hall of State

The exterior frieze of the Hall of State honors 59 Texas historical figures.  Displayed here are John Reagan, Anson Jones, James Fannin, Gail Borden, William H. Wharton, Peter Bell, Jose Navarro and Elisha M. Pease.
Enlarge
The exterior frieze of the Hall of State honors 59 Texas historical figures. Displayed here are John Reagan, Anson Jones, James Fannin, Gail Borden, William H. Wharton, Peter Bell, Jose Navarro and Elisha M. Pease.

Fair Park is a 113 hectare/277 acre recreational and educational complex located in Dallas, Texas. The complex is a registered as a National Historic Landmark and is home to nine museums, six performance facilities, a lagoon, and the largest ferris wheel in North America. Many of the buildings on the complex were constructed for the Texas Centennial Exposition in 1936 which drew over six million visitors. Most of the buildings built for the exposition still survive and Fair Park is recognized as a significant example of art deco architecture. See also: Hall of State.

The complex's signature event is the annual State Fair of Texas, the largest state fair in the United States, which has been held at the location since 1886. The fair currently lasts 24 days and usually begins towards the end of September.

The movie musical State Fair was filmed in Fair Park in 1961.

Located on the Fair Park grounds is WRR FM, Dallas's city-owned classical music broadcaster, which has the distinction of being the oldest commercially operated radio station in Texas, and second oldest in the United States.

The Cotton Bowl is played each year at the stadium of the same name in the center of the park. In addition, the "Red River Shootout" game between the University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma and the "Al Libscomb State Fair Classic" game between Grambling State University (Louisiana) and Prairie View A&M University are held there during the State Fair. This stadium was home to the Dallas Cowboys from 1960 to 1970, when they built a new stadium in Irving. In 2004, the Cowboys announced that they were considering moving back to Fair Park and replacing the Cotton Bowl with a new stadium. Talks with the city of Dallas and Dallas County came to halt, however, and the Cowboys have now decided to build a new stadium located within the city of Arlington.

The Smirnoff Music Centre, an amphitheater that hosts large concerts, is also located on the grounds of Fair Park.

Formula 1

Dallas Grand Prix Circuit
Location Fair Park,Dallas Texas, USA
(no image available)
Major events Formula One (1984)
Circuit length 3.901 kilometres (2.424 miles)
Turns  ?
Lap record 1'45.353 min. 133.300 km/h (Niki Lauda, |McLaren, 1984)

In 1984, Fair Park was converted for a weekend into a Formula One circuit, as Dallas hosted a round of the 1984 Formula One season. The circuit is no longer operational.

New Housing

As of mid 2005, the old neighborhoods just north of Fair Park such as J.D. Herndon's subdivision & the Richard Lagow estates have begun to be revitalized with new housing. A good example of this can be seen across from the Northern ticket entrance to the State Fair on Fletcher Street where beautiful new duplexes are being built by local homebuilders.

External links

The Cotton Bowl main entrance
Enlarge
The Cotton Bowl main entrance


Flag of the City of Dallas

City of Dallas: Neighborhoods

Dallas


*Independently governed


Personal tools