This is not another Klyde Warren, which is why it will work

Dallas’ next deck park will be over Interstate 35E over the next few years. Southern Gateway Park, adjacent to the Dallas Zoo, will turn 5 acres of asphalt into a green space that promises to reconnect the neighborhood links that have been torn apart since the 1950s. We expect it to be a success for three reasons.

But before we get into those reasons, we should note that this isn’t a $ 172 million Klyde Warren Park Redux.

Everyone wants a Klyde Warren. In 2018, Pew Research reported that no fewer than eight American cities are building or considering building deck parks over highways. McKinney Mayor George Fuller has proposed a park on State Highway 5 to connect his city’s historic plaza and mill district. And Frisco Mayor Jeff Cheney couldn’t help but compare his city’s proposed performing arts venue, which really has nothing to do with Klyde Warren, to Dallas Deck Park.

The hectic pace is justified. Klyde Warren is a great success both as a park and as an urban masterpiece. We are glad that it produces imitations. But stamping out exact copies does not work. That was one of the things we were looking for when Southern Gateway Public Green Foundation President April Allen presented us with the project plan last month. But before we could ask the question, Allen described how Southern Gateway formed an advisory board with neighborhood stakeholders and even committed to using local contractors for some of the construction. Allen called the project “Infrastructure of Opportunities”.

This fundamental approach is also reflected in the design of the park. Artistic renderings of the project show multi-story architecture reminiscent of Oak Cliff’s topography, with walkways to the adjacent zoo and a raised deck that will offer some of the best views in Dallas.

Developer Mike Ablon, one of the foundation’s board members, said of the park design: “It doesn’t belong anywhere.”

More importantly, the leaders of this project recognize the history of its neighborhood. A pedestrian promenade across the park will reconnect 12th Street, a link that has been separated from the interstate.

We hope that this reconnection will boost economic development where it lags east of the autobahn. Everyone told us that there are only five owner-occupied single-family homes within a mile of the park. What is now visible from the website are aging, maintenance-needy apartments, shabby motels and fast-food restaurants. That needs to change. And there is evidence of it. An economic impact study conducted by the University of North Texas at Dallas predicts an economic impact of nearly $ 1 billion for the first five years.

Everyone is astute and we expect this project to succeed behind their leadership.

One element borrowed from the Klyde Warren model is the park’s reliance on public-private partnerships. This project is supported by funds from the private sector as well as from the city, the Texas Ministry of Transport and the zoo. As we wrote earlier, private sector involvement is a key factor in Klyde Warren’s success.

Dallas doesn’t need another Klyde Warren Park, but it needs more public-private projects like this one, led by capable people who convene community officials and channel investment into neglected parts of the city through projects that are strategic and accountable.

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