Texas’ Fairfield Lake State Park will close Feb. 28 after months of negotiations between state and private leaders failed to reach a deal.
The lake, known for its prime fishing, will become the site of a high-end gated community with multimillion-dollar homes and a private golf course.
Here’s what we know.
How did this happen?
Texas does not own Fairfield Lake State Park land. Instead, it leases the land from Vistra Energy at no cost.
In 1969, Texas Power and Light Company built a dam on Big Brown Creek to create Fairfield Lake, which served as a cooling reservoir for the power company.
The company leased land to Texas, which opened Fairfield Lake State Park in 1976. Over the next five decades, the land was inherited by a string of energy companies, and now Vistra Energy.
In 2018, the coal plant closed, and Vistra listed the property for $110 million in 2021.
What’s special about this property?
Fairfield Lake is in Freestone County, just east of Interstate 45 and about 80 miles southeast of Dallas. Its central location to Dallas, Houston and Austin make it attractive to developers.
The park offers 21 miles of undeveloped shoreline and miles of trails for hiking, biking and horseback riding. But its biggest draw is catfish and bass fishing. Last year, Fairfield welcomed some 82,000 visitors, more than any year in its history.
What’s the future of the land?
Vistra is selling to Todd Interests, the developer responsible for high-end projects in downtown Dallas, including The National and East Quarter. The developer, Shawn Todd, has indicated he will no longer lease the land, state officials say.
Todd Interests did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday.
But Todd has shared plans to build an exclusive gated community with multimillion-dollar homes and a private golf course, said Arch “Beaver” Aplin III, chairman of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission. Aplin is also the founder and CEO of Buc-ee’s.
Why does this matter?
The park’s closure comes at a critical time: Texas is growing fast, with the population soon expected to hit 30 million. Park visitation skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic and shows no signs of slowing, park officials have said.
Annual park attendance is expected to exceed 10 million for the first time this year.
Texas, however, lags behind other states in public parkland, according to a recent report by the nonprofit Environment Texas Research and Policy Center. The state ranks 35th in the nation for state park acreage per capita. Texas has 8 million more people than Florida, but 86,000 fewer acres of state parkland, the report says.
Could this happen again?
Maybe. More than a dozen state parks are on leased land, including Monahans Sandhills State Park in West Texas, Ray Roberts Lake State Park, north of Dallas, and Lake Colorado City State Park between Midland and Abilene.
