Tuesday, November 1, 2022
4:00 p.m.
12225 Willowdell Dr
Dallas, TX 75243
District 10,
Please join me and many Hamilton Park community ancestors on Tuesday, November 1, 2022, at 4:00 p.m. at 12225 Willowdell Drive as we commemorate the grand reopening of our Willie B. Johnson Recreation Center.
During my time as a public servant, I have learned that some celebrations are a little more significant than others. This is one of the big ones. Hamilton Park is one of the most significant communities in all of Dallas for its history, its strength, and its people.
In 2017, groups of advisors working with City Hall decided to remove the Willie B. Johnson Recreation Center from the list of projects to fund in the 2017 Bond Program. I could not allow that to happen and our community showed up.
Over 80 people from Hamilton Park and Lake Highlands came down to City Hall and advocated for long-overdue improvements. NBA champion and local leader Terrel Harris joined Coach Tevar Watson declaring the need for an indoor basketball court and removing the chains that locked the fence to the original court. So many joined Thomas Jefferson, Gina Riley, and Patricia Price Hicks to plead for a senior center and better amenities for our senior neighbors. Our Lake Highlands community and educators advocated for technology for the next generation. Our village emerged loud and proud.
Finally, we get to celebrate the fruits of our labor on November 1. This facility with first-class amenities will be a gathering place for neighbors for generations to come.
- The new facility is over 20,000 square feet larger than the original.
- New additions include a senior center, technology center, and gymnasium.
- The new senior center includes space for indoor leisure-game activities, multi-purpose rooms with oversized TV monitors to facilitate community meetings, a teaching kitchen, a yoga room, dedicated restrooms, and storage spaces.
- The technology center includes a recording center, multiple computer workstations, and oversized TV-wall monitors that may be used to conduct digital presentations.
- The gymnasium addition includes a screened-in, covered balcony facing the park, hardwood floors, and a vaulted, wood-simulated ceiling. It also includes articulated basketball-goal equipment, restrooms, lockers, retractable bleachers, and a center-court, retractable curtain.
- The facility’s parking lot expanded from 53 parking spaces to 86.
- The expanded facility is equipped with Wi-Fi.
This project includes new landscaping, the addition of approximately one dozen heritage trees along Willowdell Drive, and re-aligned pedestrian sidewalks connecting the facility to nearby walking trails that run north and south from the facility.
I am forever thankful to all those who have fought for Hamilton Park, who have called this community home, and who have demonstrated what it truly means to #LoveYourNeighbor in this neighborhood. Please join me at this event to remember on November 1, 2022.