Construction to begin next month for Woodall Rodgers deck park in Dallas

Construction is expected to begin next month on a 5.2-acre park that will span the Woodall Rodgers Freeway and provide a pedestrian link between downtown Dallas and Uptown.
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Dignitaries, students mark Woodall Rogers deck park grounbreaking (DMN)

The Woodall Rodgers Park Foundation celebrated Monday the deck park that will stretch three blocks between Pearl and St. Paul streets.

"This is so much more than a park," Mayor Tom Leppert during the celebration at the Parkside Condos located near the freeway. "It’s a place for all of us, a place where the people of the city of Dallas all come together."

The landscape near the freeway is dominated by skyscrapers towering above and traffic zipping below. The park would provide greenery in the middle of a concrete jungle.
With an estimated price tag of about $105 million, the park will include features such as a restaurant, performance pavilion and a dog park. Millions of dollars in federal, state, city and private funds have been committed.

"Many people felt this couldn’t be done – it’s too complicated, too expensive and too much of a challenge for the city of Dallas. Today, we proved them wrong," said Jody Grant, park foundation chairman.

Sheila Grant, who serves on the park foundation's board and is Jody's wife, said she hopes the park will host a Christmas tree lighting, similar to the one held at Rockefeller Center in New York, as well as Easter sunrise services and other events.

"This will host traditions that will be there for generations to come," she said.
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Archive: Construction scheduled to begin at Woodall Rodgers deck park
Grant said construction most likely will begin in October. The $44.5 million building contract was awarded to Atlanta-based Archer Western.

Officials on Monday also worked to allay fears of road delays caused by construction.
Bill Hale, a Texas Department of Transportation engineer, said he hopes to restrict construction to the late evening and early morning hours, when traffic is light. He said crews will work around downtown entertainment events to ensure traffic headaches are kept to a minimum.

CHRIS DELL / The Dallas Morning News