The much-anticipated opening of South Dallas’ Halperin Park is set for May 9.
The deck park, built over Interstate 35E across from the Dallas Zoo, is designed to reconnect neighborhoods that were divided when the highway cut through the community decades ago.
The May opening marks the completion of the park’s first phase, while a second phase remains underway. In total, the project is expected to cost about $300 million.
Community leaders have said the park is poised to help drive economic opportunity in one of Dallas’ historically underserved areas.
The Southern Gateway Public Green Foundation, chaired by Greenberg Traurig shareholder G. Michael Gruber, spearheaded the park’s concept design and fundraised millions of dollars for the project. Attorneys serving on the board include Alan Dorantes, senior corporate counsel at T-Mobile, and Philip Wise, partner at Cienda Partners.
Gruber said he and his wife lived in southern Dallas for two decades, during which all three of their children attended school in Oak Cliff. Frustrated by the longstanding lack of investment in a community he believed had enormous untapped potential, he said he eagerly accepted the opportunity to lead the project when it was offered a decade ago.
“Halperin Park is a gift that the community surrounding it deserves, and the city of Dallas needs,” Gruber said.
LINKS
Read “Dallas’ Halperin Park Opens May 9 with Lawyers Helping Lead Transformative Project,” published in The Texas Lawbook's P.S. column.