(DALLAS) – Nov. 29, 2022 – The Southern Gateway Public Green Foundation kicked off GivingTuesday with the launch of its Champions Circle – corporate partners who commit $1 million or more to the visionary Southern Gateway Park – and the announcement of Oncor as the founding member of the Champions Circle.

Southern Gateway Park is currently under construction, spanning I-35E between Ewing and Marsalis Avenues, directly adjacent to the Dallas Zoo. Slated to open in 2024, the five-acre “park with a purpose” will be a key catalyst for closing the opportunity gap that was created when the highway was originally built in the 1950s through the middle of Oak Cliff. The park is a public/private partnership with the City of Dallas and the Southern Gateway Public Green Foundation, with support from the North Central Texas Council of Governments and the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT).

Southern Gateway’s President and COO April Allen said: “In order to make our vision a reality, we need commitment and investment from across the public and private sectors – especially now, as TxDOT is set to finish bridge construction and hand the baton over to our team to begin building Southern Gateway Park in 2023. We’re incredibly grateful for Oncor’s partnership and believe it will spur other Texas companies to follow suit and help us continue the momentum.”

Oncor has committed $1 million to support the project, joining philanthropic partners like The Rees-Jones Foundation, the Communities Foundation of Texas (W. W. Caruth, Jr. Fund), the Eugene McDermott Foundation and the Rainwater Charitable Foundation, to name a few.

“Southern Gateway Park will change the landscape of southern Dallas, quite literally reuniting neighborhoods in a way that brings green space for recreation and leisure, while spurring economic development,” said Oncor CEO Allen Nye. “We applaud all the organizations in the public and private sectors who have committed to making this important community asset a reality. We’re thrilled to answer the call as the founding member of the Champions Circle and encourage others in the Dallas business community to join us.”

Earlier this year, the Foundation held an event at Dallas City Hall to announce significant philanthropic support for the park – with Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson and former mayors Mike Rawlings and Ron Kirk calling on the business community to make similar investments in this transformative project for our community.

For more information or to get involved, please visit  www.southerngatewaypark.org or follow on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

About Southern Gateway Park

Southern Gateway Park is a five-acre bridge park spanning Interstate 35E between Ewing and Marsalis Avenues, directly adjacent to the Dallas Zoo. Slated to open in 2024, this “park with a purpose” will transform the city’s southern sector and be a key catalyst for closing the opportunity gap that was created when the highway was originally built in the 1950s through the middle of Oak Cliff.

The park is a public/private partnership with the City of Dallas and the Southern Gateway Public Green Foundation, with support from the North Central Texas Council of Governments and the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). The Foundation enlisted global design firm HKS and renowned landscape architecture firm SWA to lead the park’s planning and design. TxDOT began construction on the underlying deck structure for the first phase of the park last summer and expects to be complete by the end of this year. Once open, the park will attract an estimated 2 million visitors annually and generate more than $1 billion in economic impact in its first five years.

In addition to native landscape and ample green space, park amenities will include: a stage and pavilion for concerts and live events, an inclusive children’s playground, outdoor classroom space for local schools and organizations, a multi-purpose building for dining and community events, integrated history exhibits, a dedicated food truck area, interactive water features for those hot Texas days, and so much more.

The new bridge park will also tie into complete streets and pedestrian boulevards lined with more than 250 trees to increase the canopy and mitigate the impact of an urban heat island, as well as laying the groundwork for potential connections to the Dallas Streetcar line and a network of hike-and-bike trails. Together with the Dallas Zoo’s Master Plan, the collective capital investment will exceed $250 million, the largest investment in Southern Dallas’ history.

About Oncor

Headquartered in Dallas, Oncor Electric Delivery Company LLC is a regulated electricity distribution and transmission business that uses superior asset management skills to provide reliable electricity delivery to consumers. Oncor (together with its subsidiaries) operates the largest distribution and transmission system in Texas, delivering power to more than 3.8 million homes and businesses and operating more than 140,000 miles of transmission and distribution lines in Texas. While Oncor is owned by two investors (indirect majority owner, Sempra, and minority owner, Texas Transmission Investment LLC), Oncor is managed by its Board of Directors, which is comprised of a majority of disinterested directors.

About GivingTuesday

GivingTuesday is a global generosity movement unleashing the power of people and organizations to transform their communities and the world. GivingTuesday was created in 2012 as a simple idea: a day that encourages people to do good. Over the past ten years, it has grown into a global movement that inspires hundreds of millions of people to give, collaborate and celebrate generosity.

Whether it’s making someone smile, helping out a neighbor or stranger, showing up for an issue or people we care about or giving some of what we have to those who need our help, every act of generosity counts and everyone has something to give. GivingTuesday strives to build a world in which the catalytic power of generosity is at the heart of the society we build together, unlocking dignity, opportunity and equity around the globe.