A West End Square park virtual groundbreaking on Jan. 13 at Dallas City Hall was highlighted by the announcement of a $300,000 commitment from the Downtown Dallas Inc. Foundation to ensure a water feature for what will be the only centrally-located green space in the West End Historic District.
That financial commitment goes along with a previous $100,000 commitment from Dallas architecture and design firm Corgan toward the park’s construction, which already is underway.
“The West End has long needed a community gathering green space, and we thank Parks for Downtown Dallas for making it happen with their generous matching gifts,” Kourtny Garrett, president and CEO of Downtown Dallas Inc., said at the groundbreaking, according to a statement. “We look forward to the completion of the remaining priority parks, which will give Downtown Dallas almost 14 acres of new greenspace, helping to solidify the notion that Downtown is a true neighborhood.”
READ NEXT Construction Kicks Off on High-Tech West End Square in Downtown Dallas
Garrett said this is the DDI Foundation’s first grant to Parks for Downtown Dallas and West End Square. She said the grant is “for a water table that incorporates three different modes: a reflecting pool for still days, bubblers on windy days, and a cloud mist for cooling during hot days.”
The water feature will help make the innovative park “welcoming to everyone living, visiting and working in Downtown Dallas,” Garrett said.
The less-than-one-acre square is the second of four priority parks recommended in the 2013 Downtown Parks Master Plan Update that Parks for Downtown Dallas is building in partnership with the city of Dallas. The four parks are being funded by $39 million in city of Dallas bonds and more than $63 million of committed private funds, according to Parks for Downtown Dallas.
The landscape architecture firm James Corner Field Operations led the design of West End Square, which features an outdoor workroom, porch swings, and a u-shaped steel trellis envisioned as a flexible armature for a plug-and-play approach to technologies, which may be incorporated as the park’s needs and uses change over time.
West End Square is bounded by Market Street to the east, Corbin Street to the south, North Record Street to the west, and the former Spaghetti Warehouse building to the north.
Park construction is estimated to last for 12 months. This video from Parks for Downtown Dallas gives a tour of what the park will look like.
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