Children’s crafts and certificates of achievement remain in some corners of Dobie Pre-Kindergarten School. The campus officially closed its doors in May 2025 as part of Richardson ISD’s Project RightSize consolidation plan.
Dallas County and Richardson ISD were able to strike a deal to repurpose the campus into a resource hub.
“They had and decided to give us the school for $10 for the next 30 years,” Andrew Sommerman, Dallas County Commissioner for District 2 said. Sommerman has helped lead the project.
The empty halls, the marked walls for teardown, and a blueprint are all part of the new resource center, Esperanza Community Center at Dobie.
“Esperanza means hope, and that’s what this is all about. Let’s give these folks hope,” Sommerman said.
“It’s been about a year in the total project. About a year ago, we got together with Janie Schulz, who was then City Council, no longer, to figure out what services were needed in this neighborhood,” Sommerman said.
The community center could become the heart of the predominantly Latino neighborhood.
“This is a 72% Latino community,” Sommerman said. “One third make, as a household income, not an individual, of less than $25,000 a year… There’s approximately 80% of the (households) in this community make less than $50,000 a year.”
The more than 70,000 square-foot building will include a food pantry, childcare, after school program, Dallas College, MetroCare, WIC, and more.
“It includes a wound to tomb sort of situation. They needed, for example, prenatal care. WIC will be here to do that. They need childcare. The childcare group will be there to do that. They need after-school care. Big Thought will be for that. They need health care. Parkland will be to help them along those lines,” Sommerman said. “They also need to care for the elderly. A senior center will be here as well. There’ll be a food bank here in order to feed this community. There will be a park that will be in the back. There’ll be mental health care facilities located here in the form of MetroCare. We’ll have AgriLife who will teach kids how to grow food in these yards right here.”
While one neighbor voiced concerns over parking, the majority of people who spoke to NBC 5 said they welcomed the project as it could help deter crime.
“It’s going to security 24 hours a day in there, so the neighborhood will be secure,” Francisco Davalos said. Davalos has lived in the area for more than 25 years.
“This will decrease crime as a result of having mental health and after school programs to get kids off the street,” Sommerman said.
The Esperanza Community Center at Dobie will have its grand opening in December; however, Sommerman said help will come as soon as August.
“We’ll be phasing this open over time,” Sommerman said. “The RISD Literacy Center will be the first group that’s in here. That’s English as a Second Language, provided by RISC, who has been an excellent partner in turning over this excellent building to us.”
Dallas County will invest a total of $5 million for the renovations of the building, according to Sommerman.
“Now I’m fundraising, quite frankly, for other dollars to be able to assist us, for example, to replace air conditioners,” he said. “We’re also fundraising for the various organizations, because many of them have had their knees cut out from underneath them, given the federal funding that has been involved here. And so, as a result, we’ve had to help them supplement, not with county dollars, but with foundation dollars.”
Parkland is set to begin offering services in January 2026.
Great Job Alicia Barrera & the Team @ NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth Source link for sharing this story.
