If someone were to ask you to select an icon to symbolize Dallas, what would you choose?
Certainly you can easily identify DallasÕ skyline and MobilÕs red Pegasus as synonymous with our great city. However, more and more frequently the city can be symbolized by a hard hat.
During the recent arena election campaign the ÒproÓ forces chose a yellow hard hat as the symbol for their effort. These days Dallas is building much more than an entertainment-sports venue.
Recently the City Council approved the sale of bonds to expand the Dallas Convention Center. This is extremely important for our future in order to maintain DallasÕ status as the No. 2 convention destination in the country.
On May 2, the voters will have an opportunity to vote for more construction projects. A $400 million plus bond program is being presented to the voters for their approval. More than half that program will be for Trinity River Corridor improvements Ð roadways, recreation, forest preservation, and flood control. The balance of the projects will include streets, storm drainage, libraries, parks and cultural institutions.
East Dallas takes pride in its historic neighborhoods and institutions. However, with those historic homes comes historic infrastructure Ð old streets, alleys and storm drains. This bond proposal outlines several projects that directly impact the infrastructure of East Dallas. There will be upgrades to intersections such as Gaston-Munger; street resurfacing for portions of Mockingbird (McMillan to Abrams); and several East Dallas alleys will be resurfaced or reconstructed.
We also will be addressing a very serious flooding threat in this package. As a consequence of the May 1995 flood Baylor HospitalÕs emergency room was shut down for almost four days. This flooding was the result of inadequate storm drainage in the East Dallas area.
With your approval we will invest approximately $3 million in the Mill Creek storm drainage system to ensure this catastrophe is not repeated. Of course, there will also be significant investments in our East Dallas park treasures Ð White Rock Lake Park, Samuell-Grand Park and the Arboretum.
The public investment that we make in our City is extremely important in leveraging private sector investment. In the next six months you should begin to see movement at the corner of Live Oak and Good Latimer, the location of the new Hispanic Cultural Center. That project has attracted developers who are interested in building townhomes in the area. Our public commitment to infrastructure will also complement BaylorÕs continued investment in our area.
All of these investments are changing the face of Dallas for the better. I encourage you to vote yes on May 2 and letÕs get the dirt flying.
