Fair Park
|
|
  Missing image State_Fair_HoS_Heroes.jpg 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 277 acre (1.1 km²) 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 seven 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 1945.
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 Dallas and Dallas County came to halt, however, and the Cowboys are now negotiating with the city of Arlington for a new stadium.
The Smirnoff Music Centre, an amphitheater that hosts large concerts, is also located on the grounds of Fair Park.
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.
External links
- City Of Dallas Fair Park (http://www.dallascityhall.com/dallas/eng/html/fair_park_information.html)
