PHOTO BY THOMAS McCONNELL
HISTORY
Before: 2009
Completed: 2012
HISTORY
Out of Thin Air The concept of building a deck park over Woodall Rodgers Freeway may have originated in the 1960s when Dallas Mayor J. Erik Jonsson decided to recess the freeway. In 2004, The Real Estate Council provided a grant to fund feasibility studies and provide staff support during the beginning stages. Later that year, The Woodall Rodgers Park Foundation was formed and led the project from design to completion. The $110 million project was funded through a public-private partnership. Public support included $20 million in bond funds from the City of Dallas, $20 million in highway funds from the state and $16.7 million in stimulus funds. The balance, $53.3 million, was funded through generous philanthropists that call Dallas home.
“What the park really stands for is what made Dallas great; someone who has a dream and will just not let it die.” – Ray L. Hunt, Chairman, President and CEO, Hunt Consolidated, Inc.
DESIGN
The Office of James Burnett designed Klyde Warren Park with the primary focus of creating a park for all people. The park bridges the freeway gap and creates a vibrant and unforgettable experience for all who visit. Acting as the new “heart� of downtown, Klyde Warren Park is a well-programmed destination that succeeds on many levels and creates a series of memorable sensory experiences.
PHOTO BY CRAIG D. BLACKMON, FAIA
Landscape
PHOTO BY THOMAS McCONNELL
CHARMING
DESIGN
Architecture Thomas Phifer and Partners makes innovative use of technology to create architecture with a different spirit: architecture that connects us with nature, rather than separating us from it. They are challenged to create buildings that foster a sense of tradition and culture, that make permeable the boundaries between inside and outside, that enable their inhabitants to experience the passage of time, through days and seasons.
PHOTOS BY THOMAS McCONNELL (2)
ENJOYABLE
CONNECTING
“It is a wonderful example of a new kind of urban public space. Through its city center location and its user-centric design, it builds the most important asset in any city: a connection among people.” – Mathieu LeFevre, Executive Director, New Cities Foundation
“Five years ago, a trip on foot over the busy freeway that separates downtown Dallas from neighboring Uptown would have required a bit of courage… Today traffic flows below, but the same trip takes a pedestrian past fields of picnicking families, a dog park, and a putting green.” – The New York Times, Foot Is The New Traffic for Urban Cowboys
PHOTO BY LAYNE MURDOCH
IMAGINATIVE
PHOTO BY DILLON DIERS
SUSTAINABLE
“Buildings are a prime example of how human systems integrate with natural systems. The Klyde Warren Park project efficiently uses our natural resources and makes an immediate positive impact on our planet, which will tremendously benefit future generations to come.” Klyde Warren Park maintains a sustainability program that includes 37 native plant species and 322 trees that transform a former freeway into 5.2 acres of lush green space in the heart of downtown Dallas. In July of 2014, the park achieved LEED’s Gold Certification, which recognizes the use of high-efficiency mechanical equipment, low water-use plumbing, storm water control and filtering and a subgrade reservoir that can collect and store up to 12,000 gallons of grey water from the park’s water features for treatment and to be re-used. The restaurant, Savor, uses geothermal energy for cooling and heating, along with high-efficiency light features.
PHOTO BY CRAIG D. BLACKMON, FAIA
– Rick Fedrizzi, President, CEO and Founding Chair, U.S. Green Building Council
ACTIVE
“Klyde Warren Park has made a huge impact on downtown Dallas; it was a game changer.”
In its first year of operation, there have been over 1 million visitors to Klyde Warren Park and 1,300 activities and events. All programs and events are free to the public, making the park one of the most programmed public spaces in Dallas. From children’s activities to fitness classes, live music performances to lecture series, Klyde Warren Park has partnered with over 40 businesses and organizations to provide a wide variety of programming.
PHOTO BY LAYNE MURDOCH
– Mark Dickenson, Senior Managing Director of Investor Services for Cushman & Wakefield of Texas, Inc., Dallas Business Journal, August 30, 2013
– Jim Burnett, FASLA, President, OJB
PHOTO BY CRAIG D. BLACKMON, FAIA
“Klyde Warren Park fulfills a need that we all have deep inside, the need to connect with others in a relaxing, nature inspired environment. Seeing our friends, watching children play, dogs run, listening to music, smelling the fresh scent of new blooms will restore us.”
Savor, full service restaurant Relish, walk-up kiosk Food Trucks 1
Barbara & Steve Durham Family Playground
2 Children’s Park 3 Jane’s Lane 4 Ginsburg Family Great Lawn 5 The Dallas Morning News Reading & Games Room 6 Chase Promenade 7 Hart Boulevard
Restrooms Family Restrooms Game Tables Game Carts Butterfly Garden Pedestrian Entry
8 Nancy Collins Fisher Pavilion
Wheel Chair Entry
9 Muse Family Performance Pavilion
Drinking Fountains
10 Southwest Porch
Bike Rack
11 Moody Plaza
M-Line Trolley
12 East Lawn
D-Link
13 The Commons presented by Cigna
Information Kiosk
14 My Best Friend’s Park
Emergency Phone
PHOTO BY JOE CUNNINGHAM
PHOTO BY LAYNE MURDOCH
PHOTO BY LAYNE MURDOCH
FRIENDLY