News for North Texas
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Downtown Dallas' Klyde Warren Park Is Nominated For Best City Park in America

KlydeWarrenPark.org
Klyde Warren Park in downtown Dallas has been nominated for Best City Park in America

Five stories that have North Texas talking: Klyde Warren Park could be named America's best park; the new UT-Dallas President still copes with Virginia Tech trauma; a Dallas musician joined French synthpop band, M83; and more.

Built over the recessed Woodall Rodgers Freeway between Pearl and St. Paul streets,Klyde Warren Park has counterbalanced the shiny facades, dull concrete banners and general congestion of downtown Dallas with a much-need green gathering space.  A typical day in the 5.2-acre park could include morning yoga, lunchtime music and an afternoon full of food-truck hopping but programming varies year-round. The park, which opened in 2012, was named for Klyde Warren, the young son of billionaire Kelcy Warren.

The park has been nominated for the best city park in America by USA Today’s 10Best Readers’ Choice, but it’s up to readers to decide the winner. Readers can vote once per day until March 28.

 

Read more on the unique, and perhaps unknown, features of the park from D Magazine's archive. And here’s a timeline of the park from conception to grand opening, courtesy of The Dallas Morning News.

 
[USA Today, Dallas Morning News, D Magazine]
 

  • The newly appointed UT-Dallas President knows well the dark side of campus carry. Richard Benson will leave Virginia Tech University to take his new position in Dallas — nine years after the mass shooting by a lone gunman on campus that killed 33 people and wounded 17. One of his first tasks as UTD President will be to comply with the new state law that will allow students to carry guns on campus, starting Aug. 1, 2016. The Texas Tribune reported:
“But in describing his qualms with thelaw, Benson didn’t mention the threat of another mass shooting. His concern is that college students are emotional, stressed and sometimes unstable. Some experiment with drugs or alcohol. Guns could make them moreprone to suicide or accidental shootings, he said.”

Read more. [The Texas Tribune]

  • Dallas’ Kaela Sinclair will tour with French band M83 as its new keyboardist and singer. Sinclair was chosen by the band among hundreds of applicants. M83’s Anthony Gonzalez and Sinclair both confirmed the news on Twitter Friday. The Dallas Observer reported: “Sinclair will be off to Los Angeles to meet the band and begin tour rehearsals. M83's JunkTour kicks off on April 6 in New Orleans, but the second stop on the tour — and the release date of the band's new album Junk — will be in Dallas at The Bomb Factory.” Fun fact: Sinclair provided the melody to KERA’s mnemonics that you can hear throughout our broadcast. Hear Sinclair’s work. [Dallas Observer]
  • The story behind the myriad murals covering Deep Ellum’s facades involves 42 artists and one developer. Since 2012, Scott Rohrman of 42 Real Estate has bought 39 properties in the Dallas community. The Dallas Morning News reported: “Rohrman fell in love with Deep Ellum almost immediately, but says he wanted it to remain, now and forevermore, Deep Ellum.” So Rohrman created the 42 Murals project, enlisting 42 artists — the majority from North Texas and one from Europe to paint new works on his several properties in Deep Ellum while at the same time preserving the art and music community’s established essence. Read more. [The Dallas Morning News]

  • Weather ch-ch-ch-changes are coming this week. If the early blooms weren't any indication of Spring, showers are in the forecast for the D-FW area until Friday. Two to three inches of rain are expected between today and Wednesday, with the heaviest rainfall occurring on Tuesday, the National Weather Service says. There’s also a chance for severe weather — hail and damaging winds on Monday afternoon and the increased potential for a few tornados on Tuesday. For forecast updates, follow the National Weather Service on Twitter.