Dallas City Leaders Prep Park Construction

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Scribbling her name across a slab of concrete, young Sarah Shelton left her mark on a future Dallas landmark Saturday afternoon.

"It feels really good to make a park," she said.

The concrete beam bearing her name will be the first laid across the freeway forming the foundation of a new five-acre park that will cover the Woodall Rodgers Freeway.

Project leaders unveiled the beam Saturday during a ceremony for donors and the public, who were invited to leave their own mark on it by signing their names in permanent marker.

"I was absolutely thrilled to be a part of the project," said artist Cat Lafitte, who painted a mural on the beam.

A Dallas police officer who patrols the downtown area, Lafitte said she was inspired by the merge between technology and nature.

Design plans show the park will have groves of trees lining a large open lawn. A model of the park indicates areas set aside for botanical gardens, a café, a performance pavilion, and a dog park.

"This is a park for everyone. Having kids here today, having folks from all across town come today, I think it really shows what great support there is for the project," said council member Angela Hunt.

The beams will be installed over the next 10 months, during which time drivers will see sporadic closures of the freeway.

The park itself isn't set to open until 2012.