$23 million donation from Jim Halperin creates city’s elevated lawns and performance spaces

As crews put the finishing touches on its elevated lawns and performance spaces, Dallas’ long‑anticipated Halperin Park is now firmly on track for a late‑spring 2026 opening, marking a new chapter in the city’s efforts to stitch together neighborhoods once severed by Interstate 35E.

The project, a five‑acre deck park spanning I‑35E between Marsalis Avenue and Ewing Avenue near the Dallas Zoo, is being underpinned by a high‑profile $23 million donation from Jim Halperin and the Halperin Foundation—one of the largest single gifts ever made to a park in southern Dallas and the largest in the foundation’s history.

Halperin, co‑founder and co‑chairman of Dallas‑based Heritage Auctions—the world’s third‑largest auction house, with annual sales exceeding $1.8 billion—has described the gift as “profoundly meaningful” to his family and to a part of the city long overlooked and under‑resourced.

The contribution secured naming rights for the park, which was previously known as Southern Gateway Park, and has unlocked an additional $7.5 million in challenge grants, helping to push Phase 1 across the finish line.

April Allen, president and CEO of the Southern Gateway Public Green Foundation, has called the Halperin family’s commitment a “game‑changer” that accelerated momentum for a project once met with skepticism but now widely viewed as a symbol of inclusive urban renewal.

Spanning roughly 5 acres (with some renderings and estimates extending to about 5.5), the park will float above the interstate, connecting neighborhoods in Oak Cliff and South Dallas that were effectively divided when the highway cut through the area in the 1950s and 1960s.

Once open, the park will feature open lawns, a “Treehouse in the Woods” playground, interactive fountains, walking paths, a performance pavilion, retail and dining kiosks, and sweeping elevated views of the Dallas Zoo and the surrounding cityscape. Phase 1, covering about 1.2 acres between Ewing Avenue and Lancaster Avenue, will include the pavilion, amphitheater, 12th Street Promenade, and a “Walk of Fame” celebrating local history, as well as free public Wi‑Fi and spaces designed for community events and performances.

City officials have made the project a priority around the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with the Dallas City Council approving an $8 million allocation in January 2026 to complete Phase 1 in time for the global tournament this summer. Dallas City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert and Mayor Eric Johnson have publicly framed Halperin Park as one of the most ambitious park initiatives in the city’s recent history, emphasizing its role in closing the divide between neighborhoods severed by the interstate and positioning southern Dallas as a draw for visitors and new investment.

An economic analysis commissioned by the city estimates that the park could generate nearly $1 billion in economic impact over the next five years through increased development, tourism, and expanded access to area amenities.

The project is being developed by the Southern Gateway Public Green Foundation and constructed by the Texas Department of Transportation, with funding from the North Central Texas Council of Governments, the Oak Cliff Gateway Tax Increment Financing District, the 2012 bond program, and the Halperin Foundation’s transformational gift.

Roughly 60% of Phase 1 funding has come from private donors, underscoring the public‑private partnership model that has become central to Dallas’s civic infrastructure expansion.

Even as construction nears completion, civic leaders and community advocates continue to highlight the emotional resonance of the park: for many residents, it represents a rare piece of green gathering space in a historically underserved corridor, as well as a tangible response to decades of disinvestment.

Phase 2, which will extend the park further toward Marsalis Avenue, is slated for future development beyond 2030, with plans to add more pavilions, natural and geological features, a dog park, interactive educational spaces, and better integration with regional mobility networks such as “The Loop.”

As Dallas readies for the World Cup spotlight, Halperin Park is poised to become a new heartbeat for southern Dallas—linking neighborhoods, drawing visitors, and serving as a living legacy of visionary philanthropy that aims to bridge divides and foster shared prosperity.