If you've been anywhere near Downtown Dallas in the last year, you can't help but have noticed the massive construction project taking place over Woodall Rodgers Freeway. The Park will serve as a central gathering space for Dallas and its
visitors to enjoy in the heart of the city. The 5.2-acre deck park will
create an urban green space over the existing Woodall Rodgers Freeway
between Pearl and St. Paul streets in downtown Dallas. Plans include a
performance pavilion, restaurant, walking trails, a dog park, a
children’s discovery garden and playground, water features, an area for
games and much more.
Connectivity is central to The Park's purpose. The Park will promote
increased pedestrian, trolley and bicycle use between Uptown, Downtown
and the Arts District, contributing to a more walkable city center. The Park will create a front lawn for the surrounding cultural
offerings including the Dallas Center for Performing Arts, the Dallas
Museum of Art, the Morton Meyerson Symphony Hall, the Nasher Sculpture
Center, the Trammell & Margaret Crow Collection of Asian Art, Booker
T. Washington High School for the Visual and Performing Arts and the
future Museum of Nature and Science.
In a statement released by the Woodall Rodgers Park Foundation Board today, the dates of October 27 and 28, 2012 have been set for the grand opening. It
promises a multiday round of activities reminiscent of the weekend-long
celebration that inaugurated the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge in March.
“It’s
the big reveal,” said Mark Banta, park president. “It’s a celebration
for something that people have waited a long time for with great
anticipation.” He said one of the purposes of the park was to
bridge a stretch of Woodall Rodgers Freeway that had been a concrete
moat between downtown and Uptown. “We want to celebrate that we’re now all connected,” he said.
The activities, free to the public, will include music, arts performances and activities for children. There
will also be presentations from other cultural institutions in town,
including the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, whose opening will
come next year. But officials remained shy about details. Although
they had earlier discussed having a major concert on the Saturday of
the opening, there was no mention of that event in the latest news
release. Banta said arrangements had not been finalized for many
of the events and further details would be announced in the coming
months.
The
$110 million amenity was funded through a combination of city bond
money, state highway funds, federal funds and private donations. “Whether
you call the park the city’s heart, the front lawn or the town square,
it’s clear that Dallas is ready to turn an old freeway into a truly
special destination,” said Jody Grant, chairman of the Woodall Rodgers
Park Foundation Board.
For more information visit http://www.theparkdallas.org
Renderings provided by The Park.
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