Bridge park will change the landscape of South Dallas and revitalize surrounding community
Sponsored by JP Morgan Chase
Southern Gateway Park is bringing more than five acres of urban green space and amenities spanning I-35E between Ewing and Marsalis Avenues, and JPMorgan Chase is eager to help.
The bank has committed $750,000 to support construction of the transformational bridge park adjacent to the Dallas Zoo. Southern Gateway Park will connect the vibrant Oak Cliff community that was divided by the highway in the 1950s.
“Every person, regardless of where they live, deserves to have beautiful amenities and public spaces where they feel welcome,” said April Allen, president and CEO of the Southern Gateway Public Green Foundation. “Southern Gateway Park will transform our community by providing increased greenspace, significant economic development and safer places to live and play.”
Once open in 2026, the park is expected to attract 2 million visitors annually and generate more than $1 billion in economic impact during its first five years.
“We can’t bring this vision to life without the incredible support of our private-sector partners like JPMorgan Chase,” said Allen. “We are grateful for their financial investment and shared commitment to the people who call South Dallas home.”
Lack of mobility and investment in low-income communities plays a major role in generational poverty.
The new park will connect two of the lowest-income census tracts in Dallas and generate economic investment in the surrounding areas, according to a 2018 study presented to the city by non-profit Opportunity Dallas.
The “park with a purpose” will spur economic development, give surrounding residents greater access to amenities and support the well-being of local residents.
Park amenities include green space, a stage and pavilion for concerts, an inclusive children’s playground, outdoor classroom space for local schools and organizations, a multi-purpose building for dining and community events, integrated history exhibits, a dedicated food truck area and interactive water features. The park will also lay the groundwork for potential connections to the Dallas Streetcar line and a network of hike-and-bike trails.
“Southern Gateway Park will truly be a gateway – not just to the Oak Cliff community – but for all of Dallas,” said Brian Page, head of JPMorgan Chase’s market leadership team in North Texas. “This investment will help drive long-term economic development for local residents and create opportunity for all. JPMorgan Chase is proud to make a meaningful investment in South Dallas’ future.”
Page also represents JPMorgan Chase on the park’s Southern Gateway Alliance, a committee of civic leaders who champion the park’s mission. Oak Cliff community advocate Amanda Moreno-Lake and former Dallas mayors Michael Rawlings and Ron Kirk co-chair the alliance.
The park is a public-private partnership with the City of Dallas and the Southern Gateway Public Green Foundation, with support from the North Central Texas Council of Governments and the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT).
The park – combined with ongoing TxDOT reconstruction of I-35E – is the largest capital project of its kind in the history of Southern Dallas.
JPMorgan Chase’s investment in Southern Gateway Park is the latest in the bank’s 150-year history of support in the Dallas-Fort Worth community.
Alongside local, community-based partners, the bank has helped provide Texans with greater access to the resources needed to strengthen their economic futures. Since 2019, JPMorgan Chase has invested more than $40 million to support local workforce training, community revitalization, small business support and entrepreneurship.
When Klyde Warren Park was just a vision in the early 2000s, JPMorgan Chase saw potential to unite the community and invested in the park’s development. Since it opened in 2012, Klyde Warren Park has transformed the epicenter of downtown and uptown.
“Parks bring people from all backgrounds together,” said Page. “Southern Gateway Park will connect and help revitalize our city.”
JPMorgan Chase & Co. With 18,500 local employees and more than 190 branches, JPMorgan Chase has more than two million consumer banking customers and 240,000 small business clients across the greater Dallas-Fort Worth region. The New York-based bank has been in Dallas-Fort Worth for more than 150 years and has invested more than $40 million in North Texas non-profits since 2019.