Park News

Park in the works for Dallas' Trinity River reveals new location

The Trinity River, Dallas

Courtesy photo

A major park long in the works for Dallas has shifted its location to a more stable setting: Harold Simmons Park, the 250-acre park centered around the Trinity River, will now be situated on a parcel of land that's west of the floodway.

The park, which was first announced in 2016 with a $50 million gift from Annette Simmons, widow of Dallas businessman Harold Simmons, has expanded from a 200-acre park within the floodway, stretching from the Ronald Kirk Bridge to the Margaret McDermott Bridge, to a 250-acre park which includes overlook parks and development within the floodway.

A new rendering on the park's website shows the park jutting out on the west side of the river, south of the Union Pacific train route and north of the Commerce Street bridge.

Trinity River park Harold Simmons Park, outside the levees. dallas.culturemap.com

A panel on December 4 hosted by The Trinity Park Conservancy, the organization bringing the park to life, introduced the new plan, with comments from CEO Tony Moore; landscape designers Matthew Urbanski and Elizabeth Silver of Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates Inc (MVVA); park architect Ted Flato from Lake|Flato Architects, and Oak Cliff community leader Pastor Vincent Parker, from Golden Gate Missionary Baptist Church. Moderator was Veronica Torres Hazley

The park was described as being "located in the center of Dallas, with a river in the center of the park" - an urban recreational park that would provide an outdoor green space, with attention to conservation and sustainability, and one that is free. (Although the current cost to build it is estimated to be $325 million, up from the originally estimated $200 million, and with $130 million currently pledged, according to a subscription-only story in the DMN.)

Moore said the park would break ground in 2024.

He cited some financing opportunities, including rental income from a 300-seat structure being designed by Lake Flato that would boast skyline views, as well as partnerships that might include a hotel or other brands.

"Harold Simmons will not have an admission price," Moore said. "It's going to be a free park, thanks to donors including Harold Simmons and Annette Simmons who provided the foundation of $50 million. But after the park gets built, it's critical that we have funding for operations and maintenance, to endure it will continue to run and not just at the opening."

Flato spoke to the sustainability element, listing features like solar collectors, porches, and natural daylight, with comfortable spaces that can provide for activities but also a place to be quiet.

Active elements include two acres of bike and skate parks, a roller-skating rink, courts for various sports, and six "play towers" with different themes, plus a cable ferry where kids can pull themselves along.

Programmed activities will include concerts, festivals, and educational classrooms, geared towards families, designed for a range of audiences from communities both near the park and across the city.

Matthew Urbanski from MVVA said that their goal was to make it a place that was easy to understand and use.

"Can people go there and enjoy themselves all day?" he said, describing a picnic area with a shed structure and grills - a family center with play areas and places for kids to go.

"The idea is that it’s like an in-town vacation where you can be there for hours at a time," he said.

"American cities are complex places, lots of people are here, and we need to find places for people to come together," Urbanski said. "The park connects us to the river which has been a divider and can be a joiner - and that has always been the reason why we wanted to do this."

downtown nature

Movie Review

Horrific filmmaking makes DC villain Clayface less appealing

Photo by Parisa Taghizadeh

Tom Rhys Harries and Naomi Ackie in Clayface.

The history of DC Comics in movies has been hit-and-miss, especially when it comes to anything not directly involving Batman or Superman. Over the years, films have been headlined by heroes like Catwoman, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Shazam, the Flash, and more, and while some succeeded, none left a lasting mark on moviegoers’ imaginations.

Much like they did with Joker, the powers-that-be behind DC Studios productions are trying to entice viewers with a no-holds-barred story in Clayface. Matt Hagen (Tom Rhys Harries) is an A-list movie actor with both critical and commercial appeal. Unfortunately, a night of celebration for his recent Oscar nomination leads to him sleeping with Theresa (Ruby Sear), the girlfriend of Markos Szabo (David Dencik), a prominent mobster in Gotham City. Markos then enacts revenge by taking a razor to Matt’s face.

Desperate to find a way to look like his old self again, Matt seeks out Dr. Caitlyn Corr (Naomi Ackie), who’s conducting cutting-edge nanotechnology research that can heal any kind of damage. While the solution works on Matt, it also has the side effect of his body doing unintended things, even morphing into those with whom he comes into contact. After initially struggling with his new body, Matt decides to use his powers to enact revenge on those who’ve done him wrong.

Directed by James Watkins (Speak No Evil) and written by Mike Flanagan (The Life of Chuck) and Hossein Amini, the film is only intermittently entertaining as it tries to sell its ridiculous premise. Right from the start, it seems like the filmmakers have been given a limited budget, as everything from the sets to the CGI to the stilted dialogue feels cheap. For a film coming from a major studio, the whole thing comes off as schlocky and undercooked.

Watkins and his team try to make up for that shoddiness by delivering R-rated thrills like nudity and body horror, but those elements can only distract for so long. Much of the film is spent dealing with Matt’s trauma, and the downbeat nature of his body issues combined with very little action makes the movie not very fun to watch. The film also tries to make hay with more than a doctor-patient bond between Caitlyn — who has a boyfriend on the police force — and Matt, but like the most of the film, it never connects.

It’s not until the final third of the movie that the filmmakers land on the tone they should have been using the whole time. Matt’s ability to transform himself, while illogical and confounding, provides multiple over-the-top, funny moments and some legitimately creative kills. Instead of taking forever to set up Matt/Clayface’s origin story, Watkins and his team should have just cut to the chase and let him loose to see what the character could truly do.

This is the first big role for Welsh actor Harries, and while he’s not exactly magnetic, he proves himself worthy of the lead role. Ackie is also fine, but after several years of trying to advance up the Hollywood ladder, she may be running out of time to show she’s a star. The supporting cast has a couple of familiar faces, but it’s mostly lesser-known actors who do nothing to indicate they deserve bigger showcases.

It’s difficult to imagine any non-DC Comics fans having a strong attachment to the character of Clayface, and the film fails to make the case that he should be a continuing character. The poor quality of almost everything that appears on screen is indicative of the kind of effort and money that was put into the film, and sometimes you really do get what you pay for.

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Clayface opens in theaters on October 23.

movies film clayface