Wow, great photos! In a city that almost prides itself on the destruction of historic buildings in the name of “progress” and “market forces,” I would argue that because the park remained public and underutilized it has been preserved rather than neglected. Furthermore, as owlhorn states, the renovations over the last several years have really spruced the place up. Many of the statues are replacements of older ones that disappeared over the years.
Also, for any art deco or history buffs, the Dallas Historical Society has a great archive where I worked for a while. It contains all of the blueprints and great documents of the nutty mix of architects and Texans that built the place. It was located in the basement of the Hall of State until a flood led most of the collection to be stored off-site.
Check it out:
http://www.dallashistory.org/
Also, did you not find the Woofus?
Photo from Bill Chance's wordpress:
http://billchance.files.wordpress.com