DALLAS — Fair Park First, the nonprofit that manages Fair Park, is tentatively planning to pause fundraising through the end of August, new board chair Veletta Forsythe Lill confirmed in a statement.
The pause comes as the nonprofit awaits the results of a forensic audit commissioned earlier this year to determine whether or not the park’s operator, Oak View Group, mismanaged funds. Oak View Group has denied any wrongdoing.
"Fair Park First tentatively plans to pause fundraising through the end of August,” Lill said in a statement to WFAA. “In the interim our team will be proceeding with working on several projects that are funded and the City will be doing some building maintenance in preparation for the Fair.”
A spokesperson for the nonprofit didn’t specify what the projects are, but Dallas set aside $50 million from the 2017 bond program for projects including repairs to the food and fiber building at Fair Park, among various other projects, and $44.8 million was allocated, according to the city’s website. The 2024 bond program will add $5 million to Fair Park too.
Fair Park First CEO Brian Luallen commissioned the audit earlier this year after he raised concerns that Oak View Group may have “inaccurately, and we hope inadvertently, allocated and utilized restricted funds raised by Fair Park First for daily park operations,” allegations which the day-to-day operator of Fair Park has denied.
