DALLAS City of Winners

Whenever the city of Dallas and the citizens of Dallas agree that a project is worthy of their best efforts, all that is needed is time for concept to become reality, for \ision to become fact, for plans and projections to become actual accomplishment.

That is apparently what is happening on the south-eastern shore of White Rock Lake on the combined 66 acres of the DeGolyer and Camp estates on Garland Road. This beautiful, perfectly situated spread of sloping terrain, complete with the palatial homes of the original owners, is the ideal setting for the unfolding of an ambitious, imaginative master plan designed to create a truly world class facility, a botanical garden equal to the world’s best yet featuring primarily indigenous Texas horticulture.

The City of Dallas owns the 44 acre DeGolyer property. The Botanical Society owns the 22 acre Camp estate. The properties are joined by a legal contract. Plans and policies are established jointly with the Dallas Park Board, with the Botanical Society solely responsible for management. This happy cooperative arrangement provides a sound base from which to plan and build into the future.

The story of several exciting developments in the use and ownership of this strategic acreage is a tribute to the vision, imagination and unselfish concern of several prominent Dallas business leaders. Each of them, at the proper time, used his position, prestige and pocketbook to create the beauty Dallas now enjoys and the potential for future development typical of the way Dallas, a city of winners, does things.

Each spring, as the phrase “Dallas Blooms” blossoms forth on signs and in advertisements throughout the city, it carries the promise of greater beauty, enlarged horticultural exhibits and increased public awareness and appreciation.