Klyde Warren Park Expansion Moves Forward
The Dallas City and Park Board unanimously approve funds that will be used to create infrastructure to support Klyde Warren Park expansion
The Dallas City Council on Wednesday unanimously approved Klyde Warren Park expansion plans, which include $40 million of previously approved public funds. That investment will pay for the infrastructure of the expansion – including the creation of the highway tunnel and deck that the Park expansion will be built upon.
Overall, the Park’s expansion will cost an estimated $100 million, with $60 million of those funds raised privately to pay for a pavilion, additional green space and other features. An additional $10 million was gifted by a donor for a new fountain in the existing park. Other enhancements, paid for by private funds, include expansion of the Children’s Park and Dog Park. The proposed design of the pavilion was lauded in 2018 by the Dallas Chapter of the American Institute of Architecture (AIA) Unbuilt Design Awards.
“We’re so excited to move forward,” said Klyde Warren Park President Kit Sawers. “Klyde Warren Park serves as Dallas’ front lawn, attracting families and visitors from all over North Texas, and demand is clearly there for a larger, more robust version of the space. By enlarging the Children’s Park and Dog Park, we can serve more patrons, while still maintaining a feeling of peaceful distance. Children from all different neighborhoods love playing in the water features, and our new fountain will allow us to accommodate even more of them. And the new indoor Pavilion will, for the first time, allow us to host events such as weddings, while providing a rental stream to pay for daily upkeep of the Park, which currently comes exclusively from donations.”
Of the $40 million in funding approved by the City Council, $10 million will come from City Bonds, while $30 million will come via North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG). Of that $30 million, $10 million will act as a loan, repaid post construction.
Since its opening in 2012, Klyde Warren Park has had an estimated economic impact to the City of nearly $3 billion, due primarily to the value of the immediate development along the Park’s north and south sides and the resulting increased tax base. Over the last eight years, the surrounding public improvements district has brought $415 million per year in incremental tax revenue. That tax revenue has directly benefited Dallas ISD, the City of Dallas, Dallas County, Parkland Hospital and Dallas College.
Kylde Warren Park has welcomed more than 10 million guests from across the region. The Park, which does not accept any annual city funding, provides more than 1,000 free programs each year, all paid for via private donations. The programs feature dance and yoga classes, outdoor movies that routinely attract more than 1,000 guests, and signature holiday celebrations which have become family traditions.
The existing water features have proven immensely popular among the area’s children, earning the Park “one of the five best water parks in North Texas” recognition last summer by The Dallas Morning News. That popularity prompted the donation that will lead to an expanded fountain, designed to be an active play area for hundreds of kids each day during the summer months, along with an elegant water display in the evening.