The public is invited to join in the celebration of the grand opening of the Playing Courts at Lee Park East opening on Saturday morning, November 12 at 3334 Turtle Creek Boulevard, Lee Park East at the southeast corner of Hall Street and Turtle Creek Boulevard.
       
The fun begins at 10:00 a.m. when the Lee Park Junior Conservancy presents a Mannequin Challenge. Remarks happen at 10:30 and open play on the courts begins at 10:45. Refreshments will be served until noon. Major League Bocce and the Dallas Petanque Club will be on two of the courts with active play and demonstrations. This event celebrates the restoration of the historic courts and their adaptation for use for many types of nostalgic games.
       
The Lee Park and Arlington Hall Conservancy is bringing back “The Game of the Century,” Roque. Completion of the restoration of The Lee Park East Roque Courts has been in partnership with the City of Dallas. These courts where originally build in the 1930s as part of the Public Works Projects under President Roosevelt.  In keeping with the history of the courts, The Conservancy has restored one of the courts back into its original use. Two of the remaining courts have been restored into multi-use courts for games such as bocce, croquet, horseshoes, and petanque. The last court was transformed into a putting green with eight holes and rough edges.
       
Joining Gay Donnell, President & CEO of Lee Park & Arlington Hall Conservancy will be Wills Winters, Director of Dallas Park & Recreation, District 14 City Councilman Philip Kingston and Gale Sliger and Paul Dyer, who lobbied for City Bond funds to restore the courts. Other key attendees include members of The Lee Park & Arlington Hall Junior Conservancy, Larry Hysinger, Chairman of the Board, The Lee Park & Arlington Hall Conservancy; Max Wells, Chairman of the City of Dallas Park Board and Paul Sims, District 14 Park Board Representative.
       
The Courts will be open to the public during usual city park hours from 5:00 a.m. until 11:00 p.m. For more information visit www.leeparkconservancy.org  or call 214-521-2003. Facebook:  Lee Park & Arlington Hall Conservancy, Lee Park Junior Conservancy, Instagram.

History of Roque: 
Roque was created in 1899, by Samuel Crosby who suggested that the “c” and “t” of croquet be dropped and the American version of croquet was created. The game is played on a hard court with boundary walls and arches that are permanently placed. The mallet that is use has one soft rubber end and one hard wood or metal end. The game also became more scientific and is perceived as the most scientific outdoor game. The game grew in popular with the help of courts being built across the nation during the Great Depression under the Public Works Projects.  Roque was even included in the 1904 Summer Olympic, in place of croquet. The game slow lost popularity and by 2004, the American Roque and Croquet Association canceled tournaments. Today, there are only four known active Roque courts in the nation.

Links to the Official Rules:

Rules of Bocce: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7LIXws2SObdNEprNGgzSEVwTFk/view

Rules for Croquet: http://www.croquetamerica.com/croquet/rules/

Rules for Horseshoes: http://www.tridelec.com/tony/WESTPORT/horseshoe_rules.html

Rules for Outdoor Shuffleboard: http://www.shuffleboardcourt.com/rules-shuffleboard-game-us-ca

Rules of Petanque: http://www.labouleny.com/pdf/OfficialRulesPetanque2011E.pdf

Rules for Roque: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=loc.ark:/13960/t9765xp9w;view=2up;seq=6

History: In 1909, the green space now known as Lee Park was purchased by the City of Dallas and is the city’s second oldest park.  The Lee Park & Arlington Hall Conservancy was formed in 1998, modeled after the Central Park Conservancy in New York.  The purpose was to allow this non profit to raise funds and oversee the restoration of Arlington Hall and the elevation of landscaping and care of Lee Park.