University Park's Tree Lighting Is Going Back to Centennial Park. The New Snider Plaza Fountain Explains Why.

"The size of the new fountain and the need to maintain clear sidewalks, ADA ramps, and parking access made it impractical to install a large centerpiece tree without significant street or parking closures."

The City of University Park put that sentence in its December 2025 newsletter to explain why the tree over the Snider Plaza fountain had become four smaller trees. The note explained last year's display. It also points to where this year's celebration is going. On Sunday, Nov. 29, 2026, from 3 to 7 p.m., the Holiday Tree Lighting will be at Centennial Park, formerly Goar Park, at 3800 University Boulevard.

That makes three venue changes in four years. Each one traces back to the same question: where can a tree of the size the event has used fit without closing streets?

Four Years, Three Moves

The 2024 move looked temporary when it happened. The Snider Plaza Improvements Project ran from May 2024 to November 2025. It replaced underground infrastructure, put in a new fountain, realigned sidewalks and crosswalks, and added the Rankin Lot with more than 50 parking spaces. With the plaza torn up, Centennial Park hosted that year's event. The program included a live tree, a DJ and stage performances, children's crafts, an ice rink, a snow slide, and photos with Santa.

In 2025 the event went back to the finished plaza. It doubled as a ribbon cutting for the improvements and kept the music, Santa photos, ice skating, and snow slide. This time the lighting covered four plaza trees instead of one.

What the Fountain Changed

The two numbers in the table that matter most are 40 and 12. The concolor fir at Centennial Park in 2024 stood 40 feet tall. The spruces at Snider Plaza a year later were 12 feet each, cut in Michigan and driven to Dallas the week before they went up.

The city's account of how it picked them is plain. It reviewed several options from its vendor over the summer of 2025 and chose a group of four trees, one at each corner of the fountain, because that arrangement "safely fit the space while still creating a festive atmosphere."

The things that crowded out the big tree are the same things the renovation was built to deliver: a larger fountain, clear sidewalks, ADA ramps, and dependable parking access. Those make the plaza better to use 11 months of the year. They also take away the open space where a single tall tree used to go up. Bringing that tree back to the plaza would have meant closing streets or parking, and the project's main purpose was to keep both open.

Centennial Park doesn't have that problem. It held a 40-foot tree in 2024 with no parking trade-offs written into the plan, and that is where the event is going this year.

What Council Has Decided and What It Hasn't

The venue decision went through several steps. The University Park City Council was briefed on the 2026 event on Feb. 3, March 3, and March 17. On March 17 it directed staff to hold the event in Centennial Park. Staff brought an update on event plans and recommendations for Snider Plaza holiday décor to the council on Aug. 18, then to the Parks Advisory Committee on Aug. 27.

As of the end of September, here is where things stand.

Settled

• Location: Centennial Park, 3800 University Boulevard
• Date and time: Sunday, Nov. 29, 3 to 7 p.m.
• Honorees: Clayton and Ellen Kershaw, the city's 2026 Citizens of the Year. They couldn't attend the Fourth of July Parade, where the award is usually presented, so they will be recognized at the tree lighting.
• Snider Plaza will still be decorated, including around the new fountain

Still open

• Whether the tree will be live or artificial. Staff discussed both at the Aug. 18 work session.
• Whether food trucks will be part of the event. That was also discussed on Aug. 18.
• The full program. The city's September newsletter said vendor and sponsorship information would start becoming available that month and promised more announcements closer to the date.

The live-or-artificial question connects to everything above. The city has bought cut evergreens for this event in past years and called that "the City's tradition of sourcing high-quality evergreens." Its reasons for considering an artificial tree this year haven't been reported, and the coverage doesn't say which way staff is leaning.

The Park the Event Is Returning To

Families who were at Centennial Park in December 2024 will find a park that has kept changing since then. The city's January 2026 newsletter said the Creekside Terrace work was done and that restroom construction and placement of the Centennial bricks were planned for 2026.

The bricks are now installed. The July 2026 city update said the engraved Centennial bricks sit on the east side of the fountain, facing the gazebo. They honor the residents, families, and businesses who helped mark the city's 100th year in 2024, and the city invited anyone who bought one to come find their engraving. For a household that bought a brick, Nov. 29 is a good time to look for it, since the gazebo and fountain area will be busy that afternoon.

The same update said work at the park is still going, with new public restrooms and fountain upgrades among the next items. Centennial Park Phase 3 was on the Parks Advisory Committee's Aug. 27 agenda as part of a capital projects update. The agenda memo doesn't give a completion date. That leaves a real question for the event. Nothing in the city's published material says whether the new restrooms or the fountain upgrades will be finished by Nov. 29, so plan as if construction may still be underway in parts of the park.

The park also connects to the event's history. The Centennial bricks commemorate the anniversary year in which the tree lighting first moved to this park. Two years later, the park has become the main location for the event.

Snider Plaza in December

Moving the lighting doesn't leave the plaza bare. City staff told the council in August that Snider Plaza will still be decorated, including around the new fountain. The specific décor plan was part of the Aug. 18 update and hasn't been described in detail in public coverage.

The plaza now handles holiday traffic as a finished project. The Rankin Lot's 50-plus spaces, the realigned crosswalks, and the ADA-compliant sidewalks are all in place. Moving the one event that would have required closures to Centennial Park keeps the plaza running normally on a Sunday when much of the city comes out.

University Park's other retail corridor is also finished heading into this holiday season. The Miracle Mile Improvements Project on Lovers Lane, just east of the Dallas North Tollway, started in May 2025 and was completed in summer 2026, ahead of schedule. It replaced aging underground infrastructure, increased total parking, realigned the Douglas Avenue and Lovers Lane intersection, and rebuilt the roadway, sidewalks, and landscaping. For two holiday seasons, the city ran Snider Plaza and Miracle Mile Holiday Passports to support businesses through construction. This year, both shopping areas head into December without active construction.

The council is also looking at parking near the shops. At the same Aug. 18 work session, it discussed a possible Uber grant of up to $50,000, with a 10% city match, for an on-demand ride program to get retail employees' cars out of shopping areas, including the Miracle Mile. No decision had been reported as of the People Newspapers story on Aug. 24.

For Nov. 29, the plan is simple. The lighting and the larger tree will be at Centennial Park on University Boulevard from 3 to 7 p.m., and the decorated fountain will be a short drive away at Snider Plaza.

Park and plaza projects like these change how a block works long before anyone notices on a listing, and we track them as closely as we track sales. If you'd like to talk through what the rebuilt Snider Plaza, the finished Miracle Mile, or Centennial Park's next phase means for your street, Elliott & Elliott would be glad to help. Start Working Together.