Not Everything Is Revealed At A Grand Opening.

This Father's Day the city of Dallas held another big party on a bridge. The first one was the opening of the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge, the Santiago Calatrava designed cable-stayed bridge over the Trinity River. With connecting of downtown to west Dallas, new development soon followed.

This time, the party was held on the adjacent Continental Bridge that carried traffic across the Trinity for 85 years. After the transformation of the Continental Bridge was complete, it was opened Father's Day as the Continental Bridge Pedestrian Park and below it, the city opened the new Skyline Trail along and between the Trinity levees on both sides of the river.

The party also celebrated by serving a gourmet lunch on a 100 yard long table by 50 top chefs in Dallas. A 5 k run had been taken off below earlier in the morning. The turnout was a success for visitors, riders and runners.

Two weeks later, the new park brought out the fun stuff. The water jets that shoot streams of water into the air were working as was the misting stations and not just for the kids. A lady in her wheel chair was being pushed by a member of her family and all were having fun and laughs at getting wet. The separate misting stations have contour chaise lounges under them.

 While the chess board was seen at the opening, there are also tables with chess boards and checker boards inlaid in the tables and I had suspected that the squares on the deck were just to denote where the chess and checkers would be available. Wrong! beautiful, heavy wooden chess pieces were out on the squares at this visit. They were stunning! Beautiful wood. Lacquered finishes that shined in the sun. Amazing. They are designed for a game of stand up chess.

The opponent: Black in color with the same high gloss look.

Father's Day Opening Luncheon on the bridge.

Dallas' Continental Bridge Pedestrian Park

c.1930 Continental Bridge Converted to Pedestrian Park

On Sunday, June 15,2014, the city of Dallas will open officially a new pedestrian park on what was for some 80-odd years, a vehicle passage into West Dallas. Now, with the Margaret Hunt Hill
Bridge open and successful re-development happening like a patch of Texas wildflowers, from the new bridge all along Singleton Blvd., the success of the park will follow quickly. The new Skyline Trail that is  below the bridges and the pedestrian and bike park running  the full length of the old Continental Bridge, the success of the pedestrian park will be much like the highly successful Klyde Warren Deck Park that was constructed over the Woodall Rodgers Expressway a mile or so east of the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge.

The past few weeks the bike trail has been drawing a large flow of bikers and hikers. Add to that, the new parking area and the draw will be hikers, bikers and runners. Trinity Groves, one block west is a  highly successful transformation of a double-sided truck terminal into many fares of taste-bud favored restaurants with outdoor seating and patios. Three Sundays each month, vendors line up their Easy-Up tents to sell produce, crafts, honey, and other organic items and wares. A micro-brewery has set up across the side street from Trinity Groves.