The Arlington community is invited to celebrate the dedication of the City’s newest public gathering space – Rotary Dream Park in Downtown.

The park dedication is set for 6 p.m. Dec. 30, 2024, at 151 N. Center St., which is located north of the Union Pacific Railroad near the George W. Hawkes Library. The community event is also the culmination of Arlington Parks & Recreation’s year-long centennial celebration. Parking is available in the Front Street parking lot west of the new park, as well as in the 101 Center parking garage.

The .619-acre Rotary Dream Park features two large sculptures generously gifted to the City of Arlington. Other amenities including a stone paving public gathering space, bench seating at the corners of Center Street and Mesquite Street, pedestrian lighting and lighted walkways, landscaping, trees, grass-sloped open spaces and a lighting system to highlight the DREAM sculpture.

MESA Design Group served as project consultant, while The Fain Group was the general contractor. Arlington's newest park was not funded by property taxes. All aspects of this park, from the land acquision to development to the amenities, were provided by the Arlington Tomorrow Foundation, donations by the Rotary Club of Arlington and Downtown Arlington Management Corporation, settlement funds, and park fees paid to the City by private developers to build out the public park system.

“We’re excited to celebrate this unique, iconic new public space in Downtown Arlington,” said Parks and Recreation Director James Orloski. “We’re very thankful for the contributions of our partners who made this park possible, including Downtown Arlington Management Corporation, Rotary Club of Arlington, the Arlington Tomorrow Foundation and AT&T. We’re excited to have the community join us as we dedicate this new park and celebrate the end of our centennial year for Arlington’s parks system.”

The Rotary Club of Arlington donated “Boundless,” an interactive sculpture created by Jen Lewin, in June 2023. The vertical element of the sculpture represents an homage to the iconic Rotary emblem. The large, leaning gear-shaped sculpture features infinity mirrors on both sides that light up in hundreds of colors as visitors interact with it.

Additionally, the Downtown Arlington Management Corporation donated the DREAM sculpture, which has been on display near Levitt Pavilion Arlington since 2015. The 54-foot-long and 12-foot-tall sheet metal sculpture, created by artists Laura Kimpton and Jeff Schomberg and initiated for Arlington by Bob Pruitt, was relocated to the new park earlier this month.

“I will forever be grateful for First Baptist Church’s willingness to host DREAM for so many years, and for the Downtown Rotary’s efforts in creating a more prominent location for the sculpture,” said Tony Rutigliano, former President and CEO of Downtown Arlington Management Corporation when the sculpture was brought to the city.

The Arlington Tomorrow Foundation contributed $25,000 toward the DREAM sculpture in 2015.

Maggie Campbell, current president and CEO of Downtown Arlington Management Corporation, said the sculpture’s rightful, permanent home is the hill of the new Rotary Dream Park.

“The Downtown Arlington Management Corporation has been the proud steward and organizer for bringing DREAM here, and taking care of it all these years until we were ready to make a permanent place for it,” Campbell said. “This Rotary Dream Park is going to be another centerpiece of public space for our downtown, thanks to everyone who shared the vision and helped support this investment in public art.”

The City acquired the land for Rotary Dream Park thanks to a 1999 agreement with AT&T, formerly Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, who contributed the funds used for the park’s acquisition.