DALLAS — A massive new park built above one of Texas’ busiest highways is now open in southern Dallas, with community leaders calling it more than just a new gathering space.
Halperin Park officially opened this month above Interstate 35E next to the Dallas Zoo, featuring splash pads, a pavilion, a playground and walking paths spanning two levels overlooking the freeway below. It’s the second freeway deck park in Dallas, joining the long-standing Klyde Warren Park, which sits downtown.
“We wanted to create a world-class attraction for this neighborhood,” said April Allen, president and CEO of the Southern Gateway Public Green Foundation.
The park spans I-35E between Ewing and Marsalis avenues and was designed as a “park with a purpose,” according to the park’s official website. Allen said that’s because building the new park was about more than just creating a new space to play for her, a long-time resident of Oak Cliff, and her foundation. This was a chance to repair a decades-old divide in the neighborhood that dates back to I-35E’s construction.
“This is a huge deal for Oak Cliff,” said Allen. “When the freeway came through back in the 50s, it divided the neighborhood.”
The construction of I-35E during the 1950s highway expansion split neighborhoods throughout the center of Texas, including that section of Oak Cliff; one of Dallas’ oldest Freedman communities dating back to the post-Civil War era.
“It was a very vibrant community, and it sort of cut folks on one side off from the other side where lots of the commerce and retail activity was,” Allen said.
According to Halperin Park’s website, the project began in 2016 as neighbors and community advocates worked with the Texas Department of Transportation during plans to expand I-35E. After nearly a decade of planning and construction, the park opened in May.
Within its first week open, the park already had a regular stream of visitors enjoying the new offerings — with at least one saying she completely forgot she was standing above freeway traffic while in the new space. Several could also be seen reading the park’s story and the story of the neighborhood posted on a wall by the splash pad.
Allen said she’s glad to see people taking a moment to take in the history as they visit the park, and she hopes Halperin will give more people a reason to check the neighborhood out.
“I’m really proud to be able to share the story of Oak Cliff with folks that don’t know much about us,” she said.
Allen said that the park is just phase one for Halperin. Organizers say future plans would nearly double the size of the park with a second deck over I-35E. Phase Two is currently in the design and engineering stage and would expand the park to about 5.3 acres.
According to Halperin Park’s website, the project was delivered through a public-private partnership involving the Southern Gateway Public Green Foundation, the City of Dallas and the Texas Department of Transportation.