Dallas authorizes $42 million for deck parks to reconnect downtown with southern Dallas

The Dallas City Council authorized $42 million for the next phase of deck parks over Interstate 30, which supporters say will transform the southern half of the city.
The vote on Wednesday authorized payments from the convention center construction fund to amend an agreement with the Texas Department of Transportation for a deck park on Lamar Street and for the city’s portion of building a deck park near Old City Park.
City officials, in tandem with the North Central Texas Council of Governments and Texas Department of Transportation, identified locations near Old City Park and on Lamar Street, from East Ervay to Harwood streets, to build deck parks similar to Klyde Warren Park to bridge the gap between downtown Dallas and southern Dallas.
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“These deck caps are more than just infrastructure. They are the embodiments of the project’s theme that is connecting communities,” said Carlos Aguilar, CEO of Inspire Dallas, ahead of the Wednesday vote. Inspire Dallas, associated with developer and investor Jack Matthews, is the project management company leading the $3 billion Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center project.
Others, like Ken Benson with the Hotel Association of Texas, said the deck caps will be a key component of the convention center that will open neighborhoods to tourism opportunities and increase economic development and mobility options.
The federal government has already awarded grants to the tune of $31 million for the Old City Park deck park. The money will be used to place caps and abutments over segments of the highway.
These structures are positioned to reconnect areas in downtown’s Historic District, the Dallas Farmers Market, the Cedars, Heritage Park and neighborhoods in southern Dallas, pulled apart by freeways built decades ago. For years, city officials and planners have been vying to revitalize the area around City Hall and the convention center.
The lots behind City Hall will give way to a residential and commercial district that will spur economic growth in what has been a rather sleepy part of the city center, city officials envision.
Council member Jesse Moreno, who represents the area, said the deck park will provide a green space that will balance out all the concrete from the convention center.
“We need some greenspace, we need some trees, we need some shady areas, some grass to combat some of that heat island,” he said during the meeting.
So far, the city has awarded $113.5 million in contracts for various planning phases and the first design contract for the deck caps.
The council also approved a $141.5 million design contract to jump-start architectural designs for the first chapter of the convention center’s master plan, which means the city has now awarded $300 million in contracts to bolster infrastructure in the area.