DALLAS \u2014 A massive new park built above one of Texas\u2019 busiest highways is now open in southern Dallas, with community leaders calling it more than just a new gathering space.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\u2019s the second freeway deck park in Dallas, joining the long-standing Klyde Warren Park, which sits downtown.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted to create a world-class attraction for this neighborhood,\u201d said April Allen, president and CEO of the Southern Gateway Public Green Foundation.<\/p>\n
The park spans I-35E between Ewing and Marsalis avenues and was designed as a \u201cpark with a purpose,\u201d according to the park\u2019s official website. Allen said that\u2019s 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\u2019s construction.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a huge deal for Oak Cliff,\u201d said Allen. \u201cWhen the freeway came through back in the 50s, it divided the neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u2019 oldest Freedman communities dating back to the post-Civil War era.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt 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,\u201d Allen said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
According to Halperin Park\u2019s 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Within its first week open, the park already had a regular stream of visitors enjoying the new offerings \u2014 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\u2019s story and the story of the neighborhood posted on a wall by the splash pad.<\/p>\n
Allen said she\u2019s 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m really proud to be able to share the story of Oak Cliff with folks that don\u2019t know much about us,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
According to Halperin Park\u2019s 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.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DALLAS \u2014 A massive new park built above one of Texas\u2019 busiest highways is now open in southern…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":303264,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[14209,65180,132,21403,1570,102,104,103,8082,138,14210,223,82,27,26986,1569,835],"class_list":["post-303263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-app-human-interest","tag-app-latest-human-interest-stories","tag-austin","tag-brian-scott","tag-ctv","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news","tag-dfw-what-you-need-to-know","tag-el-paso","tag-human-interest","tag-news","tag-san-antonio","tag-texas","tag-texas-editors-picks","tag-texas-what-you-need-to-know","tag-vod"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=303263"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303263\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/303264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=303263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=303263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=303263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}