Our Voices: Connecting Dallas’s city center

By Mayor Eric L. Johnson

Dallas is building a more connected, vibrant city center, with new investments bringing that vision to life.

Last week, The Loop Plaza opened in Victory Park. As the new “front porch” of The Loop Dallas’s 50-mile trail system, the plaza directly links the Katy Trail to the Hi Line Connector and creates a gateway to Victory Park, the Design District, West Dallas, and the Trinity Strand Trail.

The plaza features an elevated pedestrian and bike bridge for the Katy Trail, with a unique public gathering space below. By turning an underused area into an active public space, this project shows how thoughtful urban design can improve mobility, create places for people to gather, and strengthen connections across Dallas.

Made possible through a partnership between the City, The Loop Dallas, the Addy Foundation, and generous private donors, The Loop Plaza also demonstrates how public-private collaboration can deliver transformative projects for our city.

Perot Museum Expansion

A short walk down the street, the Perot Museum of Nature and Science is making another transformative investment—an ambitious campus expansion that will double its exhibition space and create new opportunities for visitors to engage with science and nature.

The four-acre expansion will replace surface parking with green space featuring extensive tree cover, native plantings, water features, and large-scale outdoor science experiences.

The project also includes a reimagined museum entrance and lobby, an on-site parking garage, and enhanced educational, dining, and event spaces. The museum plans to break ground early next year, with completion slated for late 2028. Once open, the expanded campus is projected to welcome an additional 400,000 guests annually.

Part of a $185 million capital campaign, this project represents a significant investment in the future of Dallas’s urban core. Its new green space and reimagined campus entrance will strengthen connections between the museum, Victory Park, Klyde Warren Park, the Dallas Arts District, and the broader downtown corridor.

Klyde Warren Park Phase 2.0

Half a mile up the road, Klyde Warren Park is also expanding. This month, construction began on Phase 2.0, which will extend the park nearly two acres westward over the final recessed portion of the Woodall Rodgers Freeway.

The expansion will feature a striking glass-and-steel pavilion, along with The Jacobs Lawn—a 37,000-square-foot green space designed for festivals, performances, and civic gatherings. During the winter, the lawn will be transformed into an ice-skating rink.

Just as the original Klyde Warren Park sparked transformational growth around it, this expansion will serve as another major catalyst for development and activity in Dallas’s urban core.

Dallas has unique districts in its city center that are active and thriving—Victory Park, the Design District, the Dallas Arts District, and more. World-class financial institutions such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and the Texas Stock Exchange are collectively investing billions of dollars in Dallas’s city center.

The next step is connecting these destinations. Through investments in parks, trails, green spaces, and new attractions, Dallas is strengthening connectivity throughout its urban core. Together, projects like these are helping create a more cohesive, walkable, and vibrant experience in the heart of our city.

That’s all for today. Stay safe and have a blessed week!

Until next time…