richard greene mayor of arlington 1987-1997
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The Richard Greene Linear Park that borders Johnson Creek as it weaves its way through Arlington’s entertainment district by the Convention Center, the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington and Dallas Cowboys Stadium was named in of honor Richard Greene who served as Arlington’s Mayor from 1987 to 1997. The park opened in 1994 coinciding with the opening of The Ballpark in Arlington which Mayor Greene was instrumental in developing and building. Prior to serving his five mayoral terms, Richard Greene served for more than a decade as Chairman of the Planning and Zoning Commission and then Mayor Pro-Tem as a city councilman. Among the achievements credited to Mayor Greene include Developing a public-private partnership with the Texas Rangers Baseball Club that resulted in the construction of The Ballpark with overwhelming approval in the city’s largest ever voter turn out Leading the city’s role in bringing the 1995 All Star Game and accompanying national media attention to Arlington Mobilizing federal, state and local government to persuade General Motors to re-tool rather than close the Arlington Assembly Plant Encouraging the formation of River Legacy Foundation and its unique public-private partnership with the city that resulted in the major expansion of River Legacy Park and construction of the Living Science Center within that park Enhancing economic development initiatives by leading in the creation of a partnership with the Chamber of Commerce Leading aggressive road construction efforts endorsed by voters in several bond elections resulting in a ten-fold increase in road building and vital improvement to traffic flow Significantly improving public safety by increasing the resources of the police and fire departments Managing the development of the the region’s first successful curb side recycling program Authoring the area’s first ordinance to limit smoking in public places Developing a national award winning comprehensive master planning process to manage the city’s growth and development Writing development standards that resulted in preservation of the city’s flood plains, open spaces, and trees and that provided incentives for enhanced landscaping in commercial projects Restructuring city governance through the creation of an innovative mixed system of electing council members from single member districts and at large seats While serving as Mayor, Mr. Greene was CEO of Vandergriff Chevrolet. After he and his partners sold the dealership, he became the Associate Publisher of the Star-Telegram and later the CEO of the Dallas 2012 Olympic Bid. He then led the launch of the Arlington Technology Incubator, a joint venture between the University of Texas at Arlington and the Arlington Chamber of Commerce. With his political, business and environmental credentials, he is also serving as a Professor in Practice in the College of Architecture, Planning & Public Affairs at UT Arlington. In 2003, President George Bush appointed him Regional Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency with oversight of federal programs in Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. He remained in that position until 2009. His service included the management of the response to the environmental and health issues wrought by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita that devastated the Gulf Coast in 2005. His tough pragmatic and common sense approach to the mission of protecting human health and the environment while preserving economic competitiveness in the Region earned him national accolades. During his service, the Dallas-Fort Worth area became the nation’s first region to receive federal approval of a plan to bring the community into compliance with federal clean air standards. Located within the Richard Greene Linear Park, Caelum Moor, an environmental artwork, sculpted by Norm Hines of Claremont, California originally was located in The Highlands Business Park on Interstate 20 where it stood from its dedication in 1986 until it was dismantled and placed in storage in 1997. The artwork was commissioned by the Kelton Mathes Corporation in 1985 and consisted of 22 individual stones weighing 540 tons extracted from a quarry in Marble Falls, Texas. The sculpted Texas pink granite stones have been re-erected with input from Mr. Hines to simulate their original design on a 3.8 acre portion of the Richard Greene Linear Park and Johnson Creek. Interestingly, the carved signatures of Richard Greene and his wife Sylvia, along with other community volunteers, are on the base of one of the tall stones standing upright in the creek as they were in the original layout in the small lake at The Highlands.
Arlington’s pivotal years
The city without the Rangers, GM or Cowboys?
The recession of 1989-1992, the gulf war
too many cars, not enough roads
scarcity of parks, loss of natural resources
police & fire services stretched to the limit
the challenges of
the sign in the park highlights mayor greene’s years of service
citizens feeling left out
A Quick History Lesson: Arlington Shaped by Ten Things That Didn’t Happenhttp://mayorgreene.wix.com/ten-thingshttp://mayorgreene.wix.com/ten-thingshttp://mayorgreene.wix.com/ten-thingshttp://mayorgreene.wix.com/ten-thingsshapeimage_17_link_0shapeimage_17_link_1shapeimage_17_link_2