Ribbon-cutting ceremony at Kevin W. Sloan Park. Photo by Victoria Hernandez.
The Dallas Park and Recreation Department held a ribbon cutting ceremony Tuesday afternoon to celebrate Kevin W. Sloan Park.
Located at 451 S. Willomet Ave., the park was built in place of the former Jefferson/12th Connector. In the 1960s, the City of Dallas removed either 19 or 21 hold houses along South Winnetka and South Clinton to create a road as part of its thoroughfare plan to move traffic quickly through Oak Cliff from the suburbs to Downtown.
Kevin Sloan and his wife, Diane, had moved to Winnetka Heights in 1994. He was a former professor of architecture at the University of Texas at Arlington and founded his namesake practice locally in 2004. He died of glioblastoma, brain cancer, in October 2021 at age 63.
“Well, Kevin hated it,” Diane Sloan said of her late husband’s opinion on the former Jefferson/12th Connector. “And when navigating it, he used language that I cannot use within a family-friendly venue. So you can imagine how quickly he jumped at the opportunity when Diane Sherman asked for his help in converting this into a neighborhood park.”
Sherman, founder of the Winnetka Heights Neighborhood Association, recruited Kevin Sloan to help make the park “a space that would be good for all of us.”
“Kevin never hesitated when he was approached to help us,” she said. “And he, with a twinkle in his eye, envisioned and described what he thought would happen here.”
Tree dedication at Kevin W. Sloan Park on Tuesday, April 7. Photo by Victoria Hernandez.
Sherman added that the park was funded by over $2 million, including through a 2017 bond issue.
District 1 Council member Chad West said that the addition of Kevin W. Sloan Park has reconnected the neighborhoods through beautiful green space to replace unsafe, dirty pavement.
“It’s a huge win, and it’s an example that you don’t see enough in the City of Dallas,” he said.
Although Tuesday, April 7, marked the ribbon cutting for the park filled with new trees and a braided pathway, Sherman said the park will evolve over time.
“It is not finished. It’ll come and reflect what this community values,” she said. “And we gather to celebrate not just the achievements of this remarkable community, but also the spirit that drives individuals within it to make a difference.”
