Reverchon Park is a public park in the Oak Lawn area of

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. It was named for

Julien Reverchon Julien Reverchon (1837–1905) was a French botanist. He was born on 3 August 1837 in Diémoz and died on 30 December 1905. He was the son of Maximilian and Florine Jacques Reverchon. His father was a follower of the ideas of Charles Fourier (177 ...

. The park lies along Turtle Creek, a tributary of the Trinity River. Its main entrance is at Maple Avenue and Turtle Creek Boulevard.

History

Built in 1915, Reverchon Park is one of the oldest parks in the city. First named Turtle Creek Park, it was renamed Reverchon Park after Julien Reverchon (1837–1905), a botanist and a member of the La Reunion Utopian Community. In the 80s and 90s, the park was notoriously crime-ridden, but a rejuvenation project beginning in 1998 helped turn Reverchon into one of Dallas' most successful parks, according to ''The Dallas Morning News''. The

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , ...

baseball team played at the ballpark from 1977–1980, before the baseball program disbanded after the 1980 season.

Features

Reverchon Park is in area, and offers around 40 leisure and recreational program for citizens, including health screenings, tutoring, athletic leagues, yoga, volleyball, and after-school programs. The park also is home to baseball fields, basketball courts, and tennis courts. A playground in the park, accessible to children of all abilities, was designed by the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital, the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, and the City of Dallas. A section of the

Katy Trail Katy Trail may refer to the following places in the United States: * Katy Trail (Dallas) The Katy Trail is a jogging, walking, inline skating, and bicycling path that runs through the Uptown and Oak Lawn areas of Dallas, Texas (USA), following ...

, a recreational rail trail, runs adjacent to the park. It connects to parks of the

Trinity River Project The Trinity River Project is a public works project undertaken in the 2000s in the city of Dallas, Texas, United States. Its goal is to redevelop the Trinity River. The project aims to turn the river's path into a collection of sports fields, trail ...

Ballpark

Reverchon Park includes a 3,500-capacity 1920s-era ballpark used for high-school and amateur baseball teams. It was the home field for Southern Methodist University baseball from 1977 to 1980. In July 2018, plans were announced for a new multi-purpose stadium in the park to host a Dallas franchise in the independent

Southwest League of Professional Baseball The Southwest League of Professional Baseball was a planned independent professional baseball league. The first two announced teams were the Waco BlueCats and the Royse City Griffins followed by the Joplin Miners. In July 2018, it was announced t ...

, as well as local high school playoff games, amateur baseball leagues, and the

Mexican Baseball League The Mexican League (, ) is a professional baseball league based in Mexico and the oldest running professional league in the country. The league has 18 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games each season. Five t ...

. With the Southwest League never playing a game, in January 2020 the Dallas City Council approved a renovation proposal from a group led by Dallas Mavericks general manager

Donnie Nelson Donn Charles Nelson (born September 10, 1962) is an American basketball executive who previously held general manager and president of basketball operations roles for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is the s ...

who was also an owner of the

Texas AirHogs The Texas AirHogs were a professional baseball team based in Grand Prairie, Texas from 2008 to 2020. The AirHogs were members of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball. Be ...

of the

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

. The $10 million plan included new seating, artificial turf, locker rooms, dugouts, and concessions and restrooms facilities, all to accommodate professional and amateur baseball, soccer, lacrosse, concerts and rugby. In October 2020, the plan was reported to be dead when the group led by Nelson failed to submit documentation before a September 30 deadline.

References

Sources

* "Southwest Conference's Greatest Hits," Neal Farmer, c.1996

External links

Friends of Reverchon Park
* Parks in Dallas Baseball venues in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex SMU Mustangs baseball venues 1915 establishments in Texas {{Texas-baseball-venue-stub