Plans call for a restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating as well as a casual cafe. The adjacent performance pavilion will be a central gathering space in the middle of the park.

Construction is funded through a public-private partnership that includes $20 million in bond funds from the city of Dallas, $20 million in highway funds from the state and federal government through the Texas Department of Transportation and $20 million from private donations.

In March, the Park was selected to receive $16.7 million in stimulus funds that are specifically for transportation enhancement construction.

The project is being managed by Parker-based Bjerke Management Solutions and the design is led by James Burnett of Houston and Dallas-based Jacobs Engineering Group.

The base park is expected to be complete in late 2011, with amenities finishing by 2012.

The Dallas-based Woodall Rodgers Park Foundation named New York-based Thomas Phifer and Partners as the architect for a 6,000-sq-ft restaurant, performance pavilion and two central amenities planned for a 5.2-acre deck park that will span across the freeway between Uptown and Downtown Dallas.