A rendering of the future Southern Gateway Park.
Construction is coming to the I-35 deck park.
A Thursday morning ceremony marked the groundbreaking of the first phase of the Southern Gateway Park, which is expected to open in 2025.
Plans for the first phase show a music pavilion, a food truck drive, children’s play areas and water features, to name a few of the highlighted features.
The Southern Gateway Foundation and advocate for the park have said the park is an opportunity to “right the wrong” that happened 50 years ago, when I-35 was built through the historically Black neighborhoods in Oak Cliff.
But some neighbors, particularly those who reside in the 10th Street Historic District, have countered that the park will only negatively impact the already struggling neighborhood.
“Money for the park is not money for Black history,” resident Patricia Cox said in a March press conference about the status of the district.
While the first phase of the park is nearly completely funded, the Southern Gateway Public Green Foundation and local leaders are now looking to find funding for phase two.
Texas State Senator Royce West has pledged to seek federal funding for the project, and Community Bond Subcommittees have recommended $15,000,000 be included in the 2024 bond package for the second phase of the park.
“I want this to be the moment that people point to and say, this is when we stopped talking about putting money in Southern Dallas and actually did it. This is when we put real infrastructure in place,” Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson said at the groundbreaking. “This is going to be a catalyst and spur growth in this area like we have never seen before.”
