Roland G. Parrish, CEO of Parrish Restaurants Ltd., was honored Tuesday by city of Dallas officials during the groundbreaking of Roland G. Parrish Park in the Cadillac Heights community.
Earlier this year, the Dallas Park and Recreation Board voted to recognize the local businessman with a new park in east Oak Cliff for his philanthropic spirit.
As the second largest investor in the Reimagining Red Bird Project, he helped bring new medical facilities, a Marriott Hotel and hundreds of jobs to the Southern Sector.
Through his Parrish Charitable Foundation, he has partnered with the Texas Rangers Baseball Club to assist the organization and Major League Baseball with their goal to increase minority representation in the front office. The foundation also committed to sponsor a four-year, $250,000 fellowship for the team’s Charlie Pride internship.
In April, he donated a historic $3 million gift to Fisk University – one of the largest gifts in the university’s history. The donation was used to fund the construction of the new Roland Parrish Career Planning & Development Center.
Construction on the budgeted $5 million green space is expected to begin in 2024. The new park will feature athletic field and running track, playground, basketball pavilion, lighted loop trail, disc golf, and picnic areas.
Participating in the event were Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Carolyn King Arnold and Dallas City Manager T.C. Broadnax; along with Harrison Blair, Dallas Park and Recreation Board District 4; Helen Giddings, former state representative; and John D. Jenkins, director of Dallas Park and Recreation Department.
Dallas businessman Hiawatha Williams, CEO and founder of Williams Chicken, was also on hand to speak and pay tribute to Parrish.
Parris owns and operates 27 restaurants in Dallas and surrounding areas. The Dallas Business Journal ranked his company as the second Largest Minority Owned Firm in North Texas. His business consistently makes the Black Enterprise BE 100 as one of the Top 100 Black Owned Businesses in the United States.