Tracking West Dallas’ 2017 Bond: Fire Station 36, Canada Drive & more

This content originally was a newsletter Dallas Free Press emailed to insiders. To become one, sign up here for free.

West Dallas was promised a few big ticket items from the 2017 bond election.

• A $2.76 million renovation of the West Dallas Multipurpose Center (current budget: $4.24 million)
• A $2 million sprayground at Nash Davis park (final spend: $1.6 million)
• A $7 million new Fire Station No. 36 (current budget: $9.2 million)
• A $7.6 million overhaul of Canada Drive from Westmoreland to Hampton (current budget: $24.3 million)

We’ve compiled all 31 of the 2017 bond projects in West Dallas’ 75212 zip code in an easy-to-access spreadsheet from our recent story that examines the original plans and what actually happened, especially in light of Dallas City Council’s upcoming discussion about a 2024 bond package at next week’s meeting.

The thing about bond programs is that they’re not set in stone. Local governments create a list of infrastructure priorities, based on community feedback and put on a ballot by local elected officials. Then voters have the final say. Whatever 2024 bond package City Council finalizes will go before Dallas voters in November.

But even if voters approve a bond package, things change. Budgets don’t always cover the costs, as we can see from several West Dallas 2017 bond projects that doubled and even tripled in cost over time. Sometimes projects are canceled with funds reallocated to other projects, like the money for furnishings and a water fountain in West Dallas’ Pueblo Park that instead went to the Bachman Lake Aquatic Center.

And sometimes, when bond dollars go unspent, they can be reallocated for priorities that weren’t even part of the original package. The $2 million set aside for home repair projects in West Dallas came from funds City Manager T.C. Broadnax pulled together from former city bond packages — “projects we left behind or savings from projects in those areas,” said West Dallas Councilman Omar Narvaez. (By the way, that $2 million first announced in late 2020 still hasn’t been allocated. The city recently increased the amounts and changed the criteria.)

Take a look at the finished and yet-to-be-finished projects from 2017 then ask yourself: What other updates does my community need for its streets, alleys, parks, facilities, sidewalks and drainage? Then call or email Narvaez’ office to weigh in before next Wednesday, Jan. 31.