By Sriya Reddy
The Trust for Public Land has received over $5.7 million in philanthropic commitments to support the Five Mile Creek Greenbelt project in southern Dallas.
The Boone Family Foundation is giving $2.65 million and Lyda Hill Philanthropies is giving $2.5 million. Trust for Public Land, a national nonprofit that advocates for equitable access to the outdoors, now has about $19 million in funds for the project.
Five Mile Creek Greenbelt is a network of parks throughout the southern sector that will be connected through miles of walking trails. The parks include South Oak Cliff Renaissance park, which opened November 2021; Woody Branch park; and Judge Charles R. Rose community park, which will open in 2023. There will be 124 acres of parks through this project alongside 12.9 miles of trails.
“This is a high-priority infrastructure project that will help us continue to capitalize on the momentum in our city,” Mayor Eric Johnson said in the press release. “The trail can improve the environment and the health, quality of life, and mobility of residents in the historically underserved and overlooked communities like the ones where I grew up.”
Robert Kent, Texas state director for the Trust for Public Land, said in a press release that the entire greenbelt network will benefit not only the residents of southwest Dallas and Oak Cliff but will make the natural beauty of the area accessible to all of Dallas.
“Parks have the power to improve health, benefit the environment, build equity, and bring the community together, but only about half of the nearly 200,000 residents living in the Five Mile Creek watershed have access to a park or trail within a 10-minute walk of home,” Kent said.
A spokesperson with the Trust for Public Land said that the money will help bring the project to life by helping fund capital needs, technical design and engineering, and other costs associated with the project.
