The Southern Gateway Public Green Foundation announced Thursday it had received a generous gift.
The Southern Gateway Public Green Foundation is a private entity that has been tasked with designing, constructing, and operating a future deck park spanning I-35E in Southern Dallas between Ewing and Marsalis Avenues, adjacent to the Dallas Zoo. The park is a public/private project between the City of Dallas, the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG), the Texas Department of Transportation, and the Southern Gateway Public Green Foundation.
The Foundation began constructing the park in 2024 and expects to open the park sometime in 2026.
Phase One of the park is estimated to cost $112 million. The Foundation is raising $65 million from public, private, and philanthropic funds, of which $40 million had been raised by the beginning of this year. Public funds from the City of Dallas in the amount of $7 million, taken from 2017 bond funds, and more than $40 million from the NCTCOG were used to build the deck infrastructure on which the park is being built.
CW33 reports on the generous donation, which will change the name of Southern Gateway Park. Here’s the start of the story:
The Southern Gateway Public Green Foundation has received a historic $23 million grant from the Halperin Foundation to complete phase one of the landmark bridge park currently under construction over Interstate 35E in Southern Dallas. This gift will result in the future park, currently referred to as Southern Gateway Park, to be officially named Halperin Park.
“This is one of the most significant private gifts in the history of our city’s park system,” said April Allen, president and chief executive offer of the Southern Gateway Public Green Foundation. “It not only enables us to complete phase one construction, but it also unlocks an additional $7.5 million in challenge grants and supports the long-term sustainability of the park.”