City Park News
Harold Simmons Park in Dallas' Trinity River area takes first step
A first step towards construction has begun on Harold Simmons Park, a 250-acre park planned for the Trinity River area in the center of Dallas, occupying the space between the Ron Kirk Pedestrian Bridge on the north and the Margaret McDermott Bridge on the south.
A ceremony took place at 2601 N. Beckley Ave. on October 22 — the first steps towards the demolition of a building on one of park's six overlook areas.
Groundbreaking is anticipated to start in the spring. They expect it to take several months to clear the land, and another three years to build the first phases.
Harold Simmons Park is named after the late Dallas businessman, whose widow, Annette, donated $50 million toward the park’s creation. The park is a public-private partnership that's anticipated to cost $325 million, but so far donors have contributed only half of the entire cost.
The private part of the partnership is The Trinity Park Conservancy, the organization that champions the Trinity River and is bringing the park to life.
The plan is for 50 acres of attractions outside and atop the levees, with 200 acres inside the levees — where the river flows when there's rain and such — will be set aside as a nature preserve.
The biggest transformation will happen with Beckley which currently cuts across the site: Instead, it will go in a tunnel, according to NBC5.
It's all just plans now, but those plans include six 40-foot playground towers, skate and bike park, picnic areas, sports courts, water garden, splash pad, dog park, café, and ferry pond. An industrial shed built in the 1930s will be renovated into event space.