A ribbon cutting for the new splash pad at Old East Dallas Work Yard Park took place July 11. Photo by Madelyn Edwards.
Local families celebrated the new splash pad last week at the Old East Dallas Work Yard Park near South Munger Boulevard.
Revitalizing the park and installing the splash pad has been a goal of Mayor Pro Tem Jesse Moreno, who represents City Council District 2. Children were playing in the water that sprayed up from the ground of the new park feature as Moreno talked about the project.
“Today, it’s about the kids you can see behind me, laughing, smiling, cooling off from this summer heat,” he said.
The splash pad will be beneficial to families, especially since caregivers can take children to the splash pad and not run the risk of a drowning accident that could happen at a swimming pool. The splash pad could also come in handy to cyclists and runners in the area that need a quick cooldown, Moreno said. Importantly, the splash pad is expected to positively impact the whole neighborhood by helping to prevent crime.
Children play in the Old East Dallas Work Yard Park splash pad on July 11. Photo by Madelyn Edwards.
Neighbor Lydia Apolinar spoke during the ribbon cutting for the splash pad and was happy to see the improvements to the area that her children can now enjoy. Apolinar recalled being exposed to violence in her neighborhood when she was in elementary school at Mount Auburn.
“I remember growing up and literally seeing gangs fighting against each other in the middle of the street, like throwing bricks at each other, gunshots, things like that,” she said to the Lakewood/East Dallas Advocate. “Of course, we couldn’t come out to play. Now, seeing the difference, we don’t see any of that anymore. I don’t see gang members just posted up at the park anymore. It’s a huge difference.”
Dallas Park and Recreation Director John Jenkins said each of the city’s parks should be “a beacon of light for every neighborhood.”
“I’ve always said our parks have to be part of the solution and not the problem,” Jenkins said. “Unfortunately, this park was part of the problem that was causing havoc on the surrounding community.”
Having more people participating in activities at a park can help ward off unwelcome activity, like crime or loitering, said Sloan Anderson King, Dallas Park and Recreation special events coordinator.
“When it’s sitting here dormant, it’s just a place for people to come hang out and do nothing, or to do something that’s unwanted that makes it not safe for anyone,” she said.
To engage the community, a park needs amenities that bring out families, like the splash pad and the basketball court next to it that was built in recent years. The way a park receives improvements is usually through the City Council member or the Park and Recreation Board member conceiving the idea and prioritizing it, Anderson King said. Then, they have to look for funding and collaborate with the park department on design. After that, the next step is public outreach to see if the community actually needs the improvement that’s being proposed. The whole process can take years.
Moreno and Mayor Eric Johnson decided to prioritize funding toward revitalizing the Work Yard Park. The splash pad costed about $700,000, and construction started in April, Jenkins said. It is also the first of its kind to be installed at a City of Dallas park, different from “spraygrounds” that are more expensive, bigger and have play equipment. The splash pad uses recirculated water.
Other improvements at the Work Yard Park include the installation of LED lighting, Dallas Police Department monitoring cameras and additional law enforcement patrol, Moreno said. He thanked Mayor Johnson for contributing American Rescue Plan Act funds to the splash pad project.
“As a parent myself of a young child, I know that a park that I choose to bring my family to needs to be safe and secure, and so that’s what today is about,” Moreno said. “You see our mounted patrol going down the Santa Fe Trail. You see our NPO officers walking the park, our marshals because I want to make sure that this park is activated for that quality of life but also for the economic investments that come thereafter.”
Moreno’s appointed Park and Recreation Board member for District 2, Fonya Mondell, recalls improving this park to be a priority when she came onto the board about five years ago.
“We want it to be cherished and loved by the community,” Mondell said at the ribbon cutting event for the splash pad. “We want you to walk down the trails, run down the trails and come see this beautiful park in East Dallas. I’ve grown up here for 52 years, and I’ve known this park very well, so I’m really excited to see the revitalization of this park.”
Rudy Karimi, an East Dallas neighbor who represents District 14 on the Park and Recreation Board, said sometimes splash pads can pop up on “needs inventories,” but that wasn’t the case here.
“This one was purely the doing of Council member Moreno because there was a need here,” Karimi said. “This did not appear on anyone’s needs inventory at the city level. This just appeared because Council member Moreno made it a priority with the park department. And you can see how successful it is today. We wouldn’t have had that without his leadership.”
The splash pad is free to use. Old East Dallas Work Yard Park is located at 4900 Alton Avenue.
