Woodall Rodgers Park Foundation and Uptown Dallas Celebrate Earth Day with a “Picnic in the Park”

What: Join the Woodall Rodgers Park Foundation and Uptown Dallas, Inc. for a special “Earth Day Picnic,” to unveil the brand new model of the Park. Dallas’ Assistant Parks Director Willis Winters will talk about the “greening” of Dallas. The event is free, open to the public and lunch will be provided. RSVP to micaela@theparkdallas.org. 
When: Tuesday, April 20th 11:30-1:00pm 
Where: Dallas Center for Architecture, 1909 Woodall Rodgers Freeway, Suite 100
Interviews: The following people will be available for media interviews before or after the unveiling:

• Jim Reagan, CEO of Uptown Dallas, Inc. 
• Kathryn Koons, Chairman of Uptown Dallas Public Improvement District
• Willis Winters, Assistant Parks Director for City of Dallas
• Linda Owen, president, Woodall Rodgers Park Foundation

Visuals: The following visuals will be available for photo and b-roll footage:

• Unveiling of the New Park model
• Adjacent construction future Park site

Details:  The model will remain on display, when not in use for special events, at the Dallas Center for Architecture, which is open to the public. The Park will be hosting a series of Brown Bag lunches throughout 2010 to invite the public and interest groups to learn about The Park.

Uptown Dallas, Inc. donated $350,000 to the Park in 2007 and has been a long-time supporter for the project as part of its overall goal to many green initiatives. Uptown Dallas, Inc. along with Downtown Dallas and Crescent Real Estate Equities, originally funded the landscape drawings to spark interest in the idea of a deck park connecting Uptown and Downtown. They engaged renowned landscape architect Jim Burnett, who was later selected by the Woodall Rodgers Park Foundation to design the park with public input, including many Uptown residents and owners.

Fun Facts: What’s Green About The Park?

The Park will add 5.2 acres of shared, public space to Dallas’ city center, encouraging pedestrian and bicycle connectivity. A few examples:

• The Park will have 322 trees, 904 shrubs, 3,292 assorted plants
• Most trees will be the Texas-native Panache Red Oaks
• Other trees include Bur Oak, Pond Cypress, River Birch, Pistache and Lacebark Elm
• Plants will include 32 native Texas species
• There will be 40,000 square feet of lawn
• The Park’s trees will sequester an estimated 7 tons of carbon per year at maturity
• The water features will use a water reclamation system and a double purification
• System substantially reducing the use of potable water and the disposal of “dirty” water
• Over 80% of the park is irrigated with a high-efficiency capillary irrigation subsurface system (KISSS) The high-efficiency irrigation system will limit water lost to overspray and evaporation. This will save about 350,000 gallons a year over a conventional overhead spray system
• High-efficiency LED lighting with a lighting management system has been incorporated and will result in annual savings of approximately 94,000 kilowatts of electricity
• Solar recycling and trash receptacles will compact the discarded material and saves on emptying frequency