Mayor Mike Rawlings along with Annette Simmons and the Trinity Trust announced a historic $50 million donation from Annette Simmons in honor of her late husband, Harold Simmons, for the new Trinity River park. The donation is the single largest gift from a private donor for a public/private partnership benefitting the City of Dallas. It will launch development and construction of the first phase of what is poised to become one of America’s greatest urban parks.

The donation by Annette Simmons will fund further design of the concept presented in May, and along with other sources will fund construction of the park. The full park concept encompasses more than 285 acres of land near the heart of downtown Dallas. The concept envisions a new naturalized river landscape that is ever-changing with miles of pathways and trails within the levees and includes sites for five elevated parks that will extend from inside the levees into the adjacent communities. The concept also allows for the Trinity Parkway, which will provide primary access into the park and will require separate funding.