Walk Down Watery Lane

Most of us go to White Rock Lake for a bike ride, a jog, a picnic or to spend time with our kids at the park.

          But if neighborhood resident Kurt Kretsinger and his high-profile supporters have any say, we’ll soon be able to add history and culture to our list of reasons to go to the lake.

          Kretsinger is the leading force behind the drive to open a White Rock Lake Museum at the Bath House Cultural Center (BHCC) later this year.

          If successful, the museum will open this fall in an approximately 12-by-20 foot space at the BHCC currently used as storage. The museum will include a detailed photo timeline on three walls of the room, and a looped plasma screen presentation detailing the natural and human history of White Rock on the fourth wall.

          “The presentation will include old and new photos of people and buildings, wildlife, fauna, nature and interviews about the lake’s history,” Kretsinger says.

          The Bath House, he says, is a perfect fit for the museum. “It’s a beautiful building, and it’s in good shape.”

          Kretsinger decided to devote himself to the museum to help preserve the lake’s natural and human history before it is lost.

          “There is a lot of human history since the lake was built in 1910,” he says. “And every decade, something interesting has happened at White Rock Lake . We are starting to lose the generation [that’s been here] since the lake was built, so we need to do something now to preserve that history.”

          To do that, Kretsinger selected a group of people known for not only making things happen, but for their dedication to our neighborhood’s most precious natural resource.

          “The Advisory Board is a group of citizens and professionals with a sense of community who have supported White Rock Lake in the past and share a common direction for the future,” Kretsinger says. “Each person in the board has unique attributes that can contribute to the White Rock Lake Museum .”

          The museum’s 13-member advisory board consists of residents such as city councilman Gary Griffith, former Mayor Mary Poss, longtime lake supporters Marci Winter and Jeannie Terrilli, lake historian Steven Butler, who will also maintain the museum’s Web site, and many more.

          But, Kretsinger says, they also need help from residents.

 “We want this to be a community project, with input and contributions from everyone who has a love for White Rock Lake ,” he says.

Betty Switzer, director of the City of Dallas ’ Office of Cultural Affairs agrees, adding that she’s glad residents such as Kretsinger are around to get the ball rolling.

“I think it’s wonderful that we have citizens like Kurt and those on the advisory board that have a vision like this and a can-do attitude to make it happen,” she says. “They’re the kind of people that make our city a nicer place for everyone to live.”