Southern Gateway Park offers a new model for inclusion
By April Allen
Access to parks and greenspaces has been long recognized as a significant contributing factor to communities’ health and wellness. According to a 2023 Trust for Public Land report, in cities with the best ParkScores (which measure easy access to parks and recreation), people are 9% less likely to suffer from poor mental health and 21% less likely to be physically inactive. These statistics hold even when controlling for race/ethnicity, income, age, and population density. The mere existence of a nearby park contributes to good health by providing access to nature, greenspace, and a place to move, play, and exercise.
However, some communities have been denied access to public parks through zoning and infrastructure developments. As a new era of infrastructure projects emerges, there’s a unique opportunity to uplift struggling communities through strategic land use.
A Bold, New Vision
The Southern Gateway Park project, in the Oak Cliff neighborhood of Dallas, Texas, serves as a lighthouse project that other municipalities should strive to emulate.
In Oak Cliff, segregation and lack of mobility and investment in low-income communities have exacerbated generational poverty, leading to poor health outcomes. These issues were caused, in part, by the construction of Interstate 35E, which divided and isolated minority communities, a common occurrence across the United States during the 20th century. Southern Gateway Public Green Foundation (SGPGF) is working to create a new greenspace spanning I-35E that will improve public health and reconnect the communities affected by the interstate’s construction. Upon completion, Southern Gateway Park (soon to be renamed Halperin Park) will contain over five acres of new urban greenspace, making it a focal point for community gathering, activity, development, economic revitalization, and equitable community impact.
The idea for the park, which will cover 10 lanes of busy interstate freeway, was suggested by community members during the state transportation agency’s outreach regarding widening I-35E. Once initial funding was secured for the park and SGPGF was created to support construction fundraising and park operations, the foundation’s leaders made it a high priority to incorporate additional community input. The time was right to create an inclusive space that is functional, welcoming, responsive, innovative, and reflective of the neighborhoods surrounding the park.
Because of this emphasis on community input, over a period of many months, SGPGF solicited and organized community preferences and ideas, and that process resulted in both a new, community-inspired design for the park and the creation of SGPGF’s equitable development plan, which focuses on six key areas. One of those areas is Health and Fitness.
A Focus On Health
SGPGF recognizes the health benefits of parks and is making Health and Fitness a key part of its equitable development plan. Halperin Park will be an active, highly programmed space, offering a variety of activities, including concerts, movie nights, yoga, Zumba, and tai chi. In addition, SGPGF plans to host health-focused events like vaccination clinics, mobile health services, cooking classes, and mammography screenings, through a partnership with Methodist Health System. This approach aims to extend the park’s health impact beyond traditional recreational offerings.
The process of getting this massive public-private project into construction and heading toward completion has been a group effort. Of the total project cost for the first half of the park, $47 million was provided by the City of Dallas and the local metropolitan planning organization (NCTCOG) to fund the necessary bridge infrastructure. SGPGF, the private partner, has raised over $70 million in additional public and private dollars to build the park amenities on top of the bridge. That first phase is currently under construction and scheduled to open in spring 2026.
For the second half of the park, the funding for the bridge infrastructure is already committed, thanks in part to a $25-million Reconnecting Communities Grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation. Rod Hall, Senior Policy Advisor with Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLC, helped promote the project to federal officials and encouraged the team to apply for the grant.
“For us, it is vitally important to ‘Meet the Client Where They Are.’ We traveled to Texas to learn as much [as we could] about the project, immerse ourselves in the surrounding community, and engage with as many vested stakeholders as possible,” Hall says. “Upon concluding this process, we feel strongly that the project is well-suited to serve as a model example of what the Reconnecting Communities Program establishes within IIJA, in addition to benefiting from congressionally directed spending from the local congressional delegation.”
Projects like these show the potential of parks to improve overall community health and wellness by helping to correct decisions in the past that unfairly and disproportionately impacted certain groups—usually people of color. By making intentional decisions about the placement of new parks and by combining parks’ inherent health impacts with intentional programming, park planners can have an exponentially greater effect on the health of area residents. Of course, how this translates to individual park projects depends on the community and its residents and hinges on planners’ ability to implement a park that reflects both.
"Parks are vital to our well-being, offering spaces for physical, mental, and social renewal. Our thoughtful design of Southern Gateway Park will create an accessible, sustainable environment that bridges communities, promotes health, and supports biodiversity. At its core, park design is about equity—ensuring everyone, regardless of background or income, has access to nature's benefits,” says Chuck McDaniel, FASLA, Managing Principal at SWA.
Leaders spearheading similar projects should look to the community for solutions and include residents in every step. This has been a cornerstone of the Southern Gateway Park project from its inception, and SGPGF intends to continue with this approach long after construction is complete.
April Allen serves as the President and CEO of the Southern Gateway Public Green Foundation, where she is spearheading the creation of Southern Gateway Park, a transformative initiative bridging West and East Oak Cliff over Interstate 35E near the Dallas Zoo. With deep community roots in Oak Cliff, she blends her business expertise and nonprofit leadership to drive impactful change in Southern Dallas. She can be reached at april@southerngatewaypark.org.