DALLAS — City leaders have made a commitment to build four new parks in Downtown Dallas. Two of the parks are already opened, another is opening this year and the fourth will open next year. Not that long ago, downtown was all buildings, offices, parking lots and concrete. Now its new parks bring in more attraction.
Dustin Bullard’s love story began in Downtown Dallas.
“About 10 years ago, I ended up meeting my now-wife, who lived in that building right there, the silver building,” Bullard said, pointing at the Dallas skyline. “I lived three blocks the other direction, and we met kind of in the middle, at a little place called the City Tavern.”
Bullard stands in Pacific Plaza in Downtown Dallas, which is full of green grass, swings, tables and chairs. He first moved downtown more than 15 years ago.
“So, when I moved here in 2004, downtown didn’t look like this. Where we are today was a surface parking lot with hundreds of cars,” he said.
That would be a problem now for Bullard, his wife and their two dogs if it was still like that today. Before these parks were planned, it was a problem for Bullard, who was single and looking to make friends.
“Back when I moved here, and had a dog, I didn’t have a place to walk her,” Bullard said. “Where can they go to the bathroom? Where can I meet my neighbors? Where can we be socialized?”
Back in the 90s, Downtown Dallas was all business, according to President and CEO of Parks for Downtown Dallas, Amy Meadows. She said less than 100 people lived in the downtown area.
“Prior to 2002, Downtown Dallas had no residential population. People worked here, and then they left, come five o’clock,” Meadows explained. “So, as people were thinking about vibrancy in downtown, and getting more families here, we knew parks and green space was a part of that solution.”
Now in 2022, more than 13,000 people live in Downtown Dallas, according to Meadows. She said the plan up to 2022 was always for Downtown Dallas to be commercial, not residential, so they had to re-evaluate because families were moving in and there was no green space. Klyde Warren Park was one of the first additions. Four new parks became a necessary part to add to the plan.
Out of the four parks, three were formerly parking lots, according to Meadows. The City of Dallas owned the land for two of them, Carpenter Park and Pacific Plaza. Parks for Downtown Dallas had to acquire the land for the other two, Harwood Park and West End Square.
Parks for Downtown Dallas then funded public input and design for all four parks, and oversees construction for all four sites. It had to pay for Pacific Plaza in its entirety before the bond program was passed in 2017.
Then in 2017, a big bond went before the voters. Millions of dollars from the 2017 bond program was allocated for three of four of the remaining parks.
“So, we received $39 million in City of Dallas bond funding for these projects, and we had to fund, Parks for Downtown Dallas did, the remaining. And so we’ve now eclipsed $59 million putting in amenities such as these,” Meadows explained. “And frankly, it continues to keep growing.”
Pacific Plaza opened in October 2019. West End Square opened during the pandemic in March 2021. Carpenter Park will open this year in late-spring 2022 and construction has already begun at Harwood Park, which will open next spring 2023.
“Downtown parks are all unique and different. Here at Pacific Plaza, we’ve got swings designed for adults,” Bullard said. “So in these parks, I’m able to meet my neighbors and make new friends.”
Bullard loved the downtown area so much, he decided to work for Downtown Dallas Inc., which helps maintain the parks once they open.
“These spaces have built a community,” Bullard said. “They’ve helped bring a neighborhood to downtown in areas that were formerly concrete.”
Click here to visit the website of Parks for Downtown Dallas to view pictures, renderings and maps of the four new parks. And if you'd like to find fun experiences and residences downtown, check out Downtown Dallas Inc.'s website