Behind the gates cloaking Dallas’ new deck park, city leaders and donors explored the landscape, which was dotted with colorful balloon arrangements. Hundreds gathered for an evening filled with champagne and bites such as burrata and balsamic caviar.

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Atop Halperin Park, which stretches across Interstate 35E near the Dallas Zoo, community leaders celebrated about a day before it’s set to open to the public.

“For too long, it’s been an open secret that Oak Cliff didn’t get to have nice things,” said April Allen, president and CEO of the Southern Gateway Public Green Foundation. “When Interstate 35E was built in the ‘50s, it didn’t just divide streets, it divided a vibrant, connected community.”

The celebration Thursday evening brought the mayor and city manager, city council members, park department leaders and other officials to southern Dallas. Halperin is the second deck park to open in the city, following Klyde Warren in Uptown.  Leaders spoke of hope that the multi-million-dollar project will mend the neighborhoods and bring prosperity to each side of the highway.

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“This park is a win for Oak Cliff, for the city of Dallas and for anyone who wants to experience love, happiness, beauty and healing, especially at a time such as this,” Allen said.

As the smell of fresh mulch wafted, speakers described the moment, and the new park, as “divine” and “world-class” and “incredible.” The program went on for more than an hour as guests heard from area council members Maxie Johnson and Chad West, and U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey and State Sen. Royce West, along with several others.

“Rest assured, this is not some frivolous amenity,” Mayor Eric Johnson said. “This is a strategic investment in a park that’s going to deliver an extraordinary return for this city.”

The opening marks the completion of the park’s first phase. Ultimately, the estimated $300 million project is expected to cover the highway between South Ewing and South Marsalis avenues, forming a tunnel underneath. It’s been envisioned as stitching together neighborhoods and becoming a catalyst of economic development.

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Formerly called Southern Gateway Park, the park was renamed after a $23 million contribution from the Halperin Foundation for the naming rights.  Two community members who helped push for the park — Katherine Homan and Paul Carden — were among the last to speak.

Though they are decades apart in age, Homan said they wanted to undo the highway’s “original sin of splitting up our community.” Carden said that the community, along with officials, understood how they could do better for the next generation.

“We believed over a decade ago, the city could do better for Oak Cliff,” Carden said, adding that they never doubted the park would become a reality with all of the support they received.

Now, after years of work, Halperin will be available to the public, with water features, a playground, a band shell and a flexible community building.

Allen said she hopes visitors will go out and “get a feel for what makes this community so special.” On Saturday morning, the park opens with a community parade, kid’s activities, and a concert. That’ll be followed by a Mother’s Day celebration Sunday with a picnic, yoga and dancing. Further details can be found at halperinpark.org.

This reporting is part of the Future of North Texas, a community-funded journalism initiative supported by the Commit Partnership, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, the Dallas Mavericks, the Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Lisa and Charles Siegel, the McCune-Losinger Family Fund, The Meadows Foundation, the Perot Foundation, the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas and the University of Texas at Dallas. The News retains full editorial control of this coverage.

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