January 2013 - Parks & Recreation - 13

PARK OPENING

Decked Out
Community organizers in Dallas, Texas, built Klyde Warren Park out of thin air.
BY DANIELLE TAYLOR

N MANY CITIES, the only thing that runs over a freeway is an overpass, a
utilitarian expanse of concrete and steel where the only human interactions
are fender benders and blaring horns. In Dallas, Texas, however, residents
can now enjoy Klyde Warren Park, a 5.2-acre elevated deck park built right over
Woodall Rodgers Freeway. The urban green space connects the city's Arts District
and downtown with its exciting uptown area, and engaging features including a
dog park, a children's play area, walking trails, a performance pavilion, daily free
programming, and more have already drawn tens of thousands of visitors since
the park's grand opening in October 2012.
Named after the
young son of one
of the park's biggest
benefactors, the idea
for the park emerged
in 2002 when real estate agent John Zogg
began gathering support for the project.
By 2004, Zogg and
other organizers had
founded the Woodall
Rodgers Park Foundation, and contributions
continued to stream in.
About half of the project's $110 million cost
came from city bond,
state highway, and
stimulus funds, with
the remaining balance
coming in from individual donors.
As the plan for the park called for it
to be built as a ﬂoating structure atop
a major downtown artery, organizers recognized they would need highly experienced architects and urban
planners to bring the dream to reality. Dan Biederman, the urban manager who revolutionized Manhattan's

Bryant Park in the early 1990s, served
as a consultant on the project. His
company, Biederman Redevelopment
Ventures, helped develop schematic programming design and staffing
plans; made revenue, governance,
and management recommendations;
helped raise the last round of funds;
and proposed revenue-generating

plans for future park operations. The
structure itself, designed by awardwinning landscape architect Jim Burnett and Jacobs Engineering Group, is
supported by more than 300 concrete
beams, spaced to form large trenches
for 322 trees planted in a special soil
mix that helps keep it from being too
heavy. It's easily accessible by car, bike,
or public transit.
" The key to creating
vibrant urban parks is
to ﬁll them with programming that attracts people who live,
work, and visit nearby, " Biederman says.
That certainly has
been a success so far
in Klyde Warren Park,
which boasts a full daily schedule of events
free to the public, including yoga, ﬁtness
classes, chess games,
music and dance
performances, film
screenings, knitting
circles, ballroom dance
classes, and more.
As a factor of his
father's $10 million
donation, quiet fourth grader Klyde
Warren will be at least partly responsible
for his namesake park's future maintenance. But for now, he simply enjoys
playing in the park along with the rest
of the city and reveling in the dream
come true a decade in the making.
Danielle Taylor is Associate Editor of
Parks & Recreation (dtaylor@nrpa.org).

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