Education outside the classroom
3 Dallas universities help shape the city in a big way, from Perot Museum toKlyde Warren Park
UT Dallas arts and technology students developed soundscapes for the new PerotMuseum of Nature and Science.Photo by Jerry McClure
UNT college of information students are running Klyde Warren Park's open-airreading room.Photo by Jerry McClure
SMU plans to move its golf practice facilities to the new Trinity Forest GolfCourse and team up with the First Tee of Greater Dallas in 2016.SMU Men's Golf / Facebook
The Dallas landscape has undergone some major changes in the past few months. First it was the opening of Klyde Warren Park. Then the Perot Museum of Nature and Science. Now the recent approval of the Trinity Forest Golf Course.
The first two have received rave reviews. And although the jury is still out on just what TFGC will mean to South Dallas, it’s clear that this year has been huge in shaping Dallas for the future.
Of course, this year has been marked by other creations and controversies, but we’re looking at the park, the museum and the golf course for how they have gotten local universities involved in developing Dallas.
UNT and Klyde Warren Park Reading Room
Libraries are great places for discovery and getting away from it all, but the whole walls and a ceiling part can be a drag. That’s why students from the University of North Texas College of Information are in charge of Klyde Warren Park’s 5,000-square-foot, open-air reading room.
UTD students worked together with Perot Museum officials to develop specific sounds to enhance the exhibits’ quality.
Master’s student Misty Maberry is the coordinator for the space, developing programming; collecting and managing books, mags and newspapers; and scheduling UNT students as staff members. The goal is for them to eventually earn academic credit for working the park.
The library stays open 10 am-4 pm, seven days a week, and the tree-lined space offers free programs daily.
UT Dallas and Perot Museum of Nature and Science
The Perot is on the frontier of what a museum can do. Forget the typical stuffiness of plaque readings — this state-of-the-art facility seeks to immerse the viewer in the experience.
UTD Arts and Technology students spent the last year creating soundscapes for the museum. This hands-on exercise in sound design let the students create in a professional setting for the 11 exhibit halls. The students worked together with museum officials to develop specific sounds to enhance an exhibits’ quality.
Some of the student designs included a “heartbeat” bass line for the Being Human Hall and a soundscape reminiscent of a bird’s flight pattern in the Rose Hall of Birds.
SMU and Trinity Forest Golf Course
The plan to turn the landfill in southern Dallas into a premier 18-hole golf course has sparked debate across the city. The connection with AT&T has made a few headlines, but little attention has gone to SMU, which will also play a large role at the facility.
Besides the large course and nine-hole short course, there are plans for a practice academy for SMU’s golf teams and a teaching facility for the First Tee of Great Dallas.
The First Tee, founded in 2003, teaches more than 1,100 youths each year in six programs on the fundamentals of golf, as well as development on the course and off it. Having the SMU squads on the same site as the First Tee will help foster growth and interest in playing collegiately, or so hopes SMU President R. Gerald Turner.
The facility plans to open in 2016, pending further approval.
