Workers were finishing up the new Moore Park pavilion Friday.
A new pavilion and amphitheater at Moore Park will connect this 72-year-old former “negro park” on the Trinity River to the new Santa Fe Trestle Trail Park.
The Trinity Trust is throwing a grand opening party and dedication ceremony from 5-7 p.m. Thursday, June 13. There will be food trucks, plus performances from Dallas Black Dance Children’s Troupe, Ernesto’s Mariachi Band and the Townview Jazz Band.
Dallas Morning News Historical Archives
A $2 million grant from the Hoblitzelle Foundation paid for the improvements, which include a bridge over Cedar Creek that leads to the pavilion and amphitheater. A new parking lot also was added adjacent to the Santa Fe park’s lot.
The city bought the land for Moore Park, near Eighth and Corinth, in 1941. It was one of three city-owned parks that allowed blacks during Jim Crow. The city in 1943 considered turning it into a seven-hole golf course for blacks only, but that idea never took hold. Eventually it became a hub for amateur negro league baseball.
The park still has the old baseball diamond and tennis court, plus a mid-century pavilion and a modern playground, but it’s mostly green fields that back up to the creek.
The old pavilion at Moore Park
The old tennis court at Moore Park
The bridge connecting the old part of Moore Park to the new part and the Santa Fe Trestle Trail Park.
