Updating Dallas’ First Park Honoring an African American 
{"autoplay":"true","autoplay_speed":"8000","speed":"1000","arrows":"true","dots":"false","loop":"true","nav_slide_column":5,"rtl":"false"}
{"autoplay":"true","autoplay_speed":"8000","speed":"1000","arrows":"true","dots":"false","loop":"true","nav_slide_column":5,"rtl":"false"}

DETAILS

LocationDallas, Texas, United States
ClientUptown Dallas Inc., with City of Dallas Parks & Recreation Dept.

Griggs Park, a historically important open space located in Uptown Dallas, had not kept pace with the ever-evolving culture and artistic neighborhood surrounding it. The new design reflects the changes in urban uses for the now-vibrant neighborhood. Established in the 1940s, the park is the first dedicated to an African American in Dallas. It transitioned with the neighborhood by developing into a significant athletic park until falling into disarray in the late ‘70s. Design phases 1 and 2 provided a complete renovation into neighborhood park with landforms, pathways, gathering spots, and tree plantings. The Griggs Park master plan used the existing soil and a mature strand of trees ringing the park as primary design components; the resulting savings were used to establish remaining park essentials: walks, play areas, lighting, irrigation, seating and a significant recognition for the park’s name-sake, the Reverend Allen R. Griggs.

Related Projects

Alief Park and Neighborhood Center

In the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, Houston was compelled to reassess community preparedness. The 37-acre Alief Center, situated in one of the city’s most culturally diverse areas, addresses longstanding issues of disinvestment and environmental injustice while fostering physical and social resilience.

Elevated above the 100-year floodplain, the...

Naftzger Park

Naftzger Park offers a contemporary and communal gathering space in downtown Wichita with enough variety to appeal to everyone.  Designed to activate an area of town between Old Town and a burgeoning new entertainment district, the park is at once an urban foyer and outdoor recreation room.  A contemporary pavilion can accommodate picnic tables by day and perf...

Nelson Mandela Park Master Plan

Identified by the City as one of its “Big Five” open space projects, the conceptual master plan for Nelson Mandela Park will create a much-needed central open space for the city’s south district, an industrial area along the waterfront that is home to a growing and increasingly diverse population. Here the city seeks to transcend its current park paradigm of l...

Ricardo Lara Park

Ricardo Lara Park is a vibrant city park and a case study in landscape infrastructure.  It demonstrates how a small investment and creative thinking about landscape can transform the very infrastructure that has long divided and isolated a community into an amenity that unites it, offering much-needed environmental and recreational benefits.

Here, more ...