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.

Construction on the deck plaza began in October 2009. The base of the park is expected to be complete in the spring with amenities expected to be complete in late 2012.
 
Construction is funded through a public-private partnership including $20 million in bond funds from the City of Dallas, $20 million in highway funds from the state and federal government through TxDOT and $20 million from private donations. In March, the Park was selected to receive $16.7 million in stimulus funds that are specifically for transportation enhancement construction. The Woodall Rodgers Park Foundation continues to raise private funds, including the naming rights for park features, to fund amenity construction, operations and programming.

The Park will be owned by the City of Dallas and managed by the private Woodall Rodgers Park Foundation. The Foundation has studied great public parks across the country and plans to bring best practices to The Park's operations, programming and maintenance.

The design and construction of the park is being managed by Bjerke Management Solutions and the design is led by two nationally-recognized design firms, The Office of James Burnett and Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc. The Texas Department of Transportation selected Archer Western as the contractor for construction of the deck plaza.

Jody Grant serves as Chairman of the Board of the Woodall Rodgers Foundation and is joined by President Linda Owen, and board members Elaine Agather, Nancy Best, Garrett Boone, Leo Corrigan, Ed Fjordbak, Linda Hart, Mitch Hart, Sheila Grant, Jeff Jackson, Tom Leppert, John Muse, Bob Shapard, Rob Walters, and John Zogg.

The Woodall Rodgers Park Foundation office is located at 1909 Woodall Rodgers Freeway, Suite 403.
 
Brochures:
Enjoy the following collateral with information about The Park. Please feel free to print these and use them at your next event.
 

Sustainability

Woodall Rodgers Park Foundation realizes the importance of the development of The Park project on the environment and to that end The Park has been designed and will be constructed using sustainable methods. The Café building is registered for LEED certification and we expect to achieve a LEED Silver certification. The following items have been incorporated into the Park to achieve energy/water savings and provide a sustainable impact to the City, the park patrons and the residents’ environment. These features provide a great example and educational opportunity for the public to learn about the many types of sustainable development and technologies available today.

Site

  • The Park incorporates numerous features intended to improve the environment of the area and be sustainable through the long-term future.
  • The deck over the freeway will reduce traffic noise for the surface level pedestrian traffic as well as the adjacent building occupants.
  • The trees and plant material of The Park will mitigate the urban heat island effect by covering 5.2 acres of existing concrete with vegetation. Essentially a “Green Roof” over the Woodall Rodgers Freeway.
  • The project is infill of an existing urban site
  • Connection to existing public transit system – DART, Katy trail, and the McKinney Trolley
  • The Park incorporates the use of native tree and plant species.
  • Trees in The Park will sequester an estimated 7 tons of carbon per year at maturity.
  • Based on USDA Forest Service Pamphlet #R1-92-100, the trees on The Park will provide environmental services as follows over a 50 year period:
    • Generate $700,000 worth of oxygen
    • Provide $19,964,000 worth of pollution control
    • Recycle $12,075,000 worth of water
    • Control $10,062,500 of erosion

Water

  • The Park will use water efficient plumbing fixtures per LEED recommendations.
  • The water features incorporate a water reclamation system and a double purification system for protection of the public and substantially reducing the use of potable water and the disposal of “dirty” water to a minimum.
  • The Park will serve as a large 5.2 acre bio filter and reduce the run off of Storm water that is now flowing directly into the highway storm system.
  • The Park incorporates a High-efficiency irrigation system which limits water lost to overspray and evaporation
    • Over 80% of The Park is irrigated with a high-efficiency capillary irrigation sub-surface system
    • First-year water savings of 322,400 gallons over a conventional overhead spray system
    • Subsequent annual water savings is estimated to be 386,800 gallons as plants become established

Energy

  • High-efficiency LED lighting with a Lighting Management system has been incorporated and will result in annual savings of approximately 94,000 kilowatts of electricity.
  • The Park is planning to incorporate LED light poles with solar (photovoltaic) film wrapped on the pole for power generation as the technology progresses.
  • The Park incorporates the use of solar (photovoltaic) recycling and trash receptacles that compact the discard material and saves on emptying frequency, bulk haul off and thus reduces emissions from fewer truck hauls.
  • The Café and project buildings will be commissioned according to LEED standards.

Materials

  • The materials for the Park will incorporate local/regional sourced and manufactured materials.
  • The Café will incorporate the use of certified wood per the LEED recommendations.
  • The project will incorporate the use of recycled content for the project materials.

Indoor Environmental Quality/Indoor Air Quality

  • Sustainable Design Features in the Café and Pavilion:

The WRPF will develop the Design and Construction at a LEED Silver certification level. Some of the sustainable efforts for the café include the following:

    • Geothermal Energy is being used for cooling and heating
    • There is extensive use of Day-lighting Design methods improving the indoor environment and reduced electricity demand for lighting.
    • The Café incorporates an extended Roof Plain for Shading and reduction of heat island effect.
    • The Café and Pavilion include the use of highly reflective roofing for reduction in heat island effect.
    • High Performance Glazing is incorporated.
    • High Performance mechanical and Building management systems will be used.
    • Low VOC paints, sealants, adhesives and carpeting shall be used in accordance with LEED recommendations.
The building systems will be fully commissioned.
Dallas, TX
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