Spring 2009
Woodall Rodgers Park to Add Vibrant Community Space by 2011
Publication: Columns; AIA Dallas - Spring 2009
Title: Woodall Rodgers Park to Add Vibrant Community Space
Author: Linda Owen and Nathan Elliott, ASLA
Spanning the freeway between uptown and downtown, the Woodall Rodgers Park will be an important pedestrian connection and a regional attraction that builds upon the growing synergy of central Dallas. Following an initial feasibility study funded by The Real Estate Council, the Woodall Rodgers Park Foundation held an international design competition for the 5.2-acre park.
The foundation selected The Office of James Burnett, a landscape architecture firm with offices in Houston, TX and Solana Beach, CA, as the lead designer. Jacobs Carter Burgess, Inc. of Dallas was chosen to provide project management and engineering services. Thomas Phifer and Partners of New York is designing the cafe and performance pavilions and Fluidity Design, Focus Lighting, Endres Ware and Gensler 585 are assisting in the design and documentation of amenity features.
The heart of the park will be a large public plaza at Olive Street that will include an interactive water feature, a restaurant with outdoor dining, and a casual take-out counter. It will also include a performance pavilion that overlooks a public green that may accommodate up to 2,000 people during special events and performances. Designed to provide extensive shaded outdoor seating areas, the restaurant and performance pavilions will be models of sustainable design, incorporating natural ventilation, geothermal heating and cooling, and planted roofs. Water features, public plazas, and a pedestrian connection will mark the former axis of North Harwood Street through the site. A broad promenade of cypress trees will lead south to the games courtyard, botanical gardens, and a children's garden with a variety of imaginative and exciting play opportunities.
The promenade will extend north across Olive Street to a series of smaller botanical courtyards, a smaller function lawn, a dog park, and an interactive signature water feature. Groves of oak trees and an enhanced streetscape environment will provide a strong architectural rhythm along the site edges and buffer the noise and activity of the adjacent roads. The park will offer free WiFi service and an abundance of seating in all areas to ensure vibrant pedestrian activity during park hours.
The park will be built in five phases. The first phase began in the fourth quarter of 2008. The deck and tunnel structure is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2009 with a target completion date of the second quarter of 2011. Funded by a combination of public and private contributions, the park's infrastructure component is expected to cost $60 million with an additional $25 to $30 million budgeted for amenities. The anticipated financial impact of the park on the Dallas area is estimated to exceed $300 million.
The Woodall Rodgers Park Foundation maintains offices within the new Dallas Center for Architecture located at 1909 Woodall Rodgers Freeway. Suite 100, Dallas, Texas, 75201. Learn more at www.wrproject.com
Linda Own is president of The Woodall Rodgers Park Foundation and Nathan Elliott, ASLA is a senior associate with The Office of James Burnett.