Oak Cliff leaders' long push brings Halperin Bridge Park to opening weekend

In Oak Cliff, the new Halperin Bridge Park is nearing its debut. And it all began with an idea – and an unlikely duo asking "why not Oak Cliff?" and refusing to take no for an answer.

"I wanted a natural solution to what had happened in an unnatural way," said Katherine Homan.

Resident recalls decades of division

Homan and her family moved to Oak Cliff more than 50 years ago. Even then, she said, a realtor warned her away.

"Oh, there was redlining," she said with an anger that still simmers. "Even in '74, you could not get a mortgage from an Oak Cliff bank. They had redlined themselves!"

Once a thriving community, the area's decline accelerated when I-35 was built, splitting Oak Cliff in two in the late 1950s.

"To me, it was like the Berlin Wall between one side and the other," said Homan.

Idea sparked at community meeting

She had long been waiting for an opportunity to spur change – and found it at a community meeting seeking input on the planned rebuild of I‑35. She'd noticed the economic development that followed when Central Expressway was taken underground and wondered – no, demanded – that Oak Cliff receive the same consideration. She told local officials:

"I'd like to see a Klyde Warren-type park, with the zoo anchoring it. And this way we will have undone the damage that was done when the interstate was first, you know, put in, and it plowed through our neighborhoods."

As the story goes, the initial response was not encouraging. Homan said officials had a quick, quiet, whispered conversation.

"He turns around, comes back, and he said, 'That's going to be very expensive!' So I turn around and say, 'We're not worth it?' said Homan. "That was when Paul pops up, says, 'I like the idea!'"

Unlikely partners unite for change

Paul is Paul Corden. He grew up in Oak Cliff and, a decade ago, was a college student at UNT Dallas. Now he's a financier and father of three. The new Halperin Park, he said, has felt like an unofficial fourth. Along with Homan, he has been on a mission where success was the only option.

"It was a must," said Corden. "It must be done. We must reconnect our community. We needed to break this generational divide that had grown over the last half century and reconnect the community."

Shared vision bridges generations

The pair became an unstoppable, unlikely duo – co‑chairing the park steering committee, courting support, and daring the community to believe in the power of connections.

"You know, I grew up on the east side of Oak Cliff, and she's on the west side, in Kessler," said Corden. "And there's a 50-year age difference. But again, we're unified by this love and desire to see Oak Cliff have better things and do better and make a better city, regardless of what part of town we came from or regardless of our background."

Dream becomes reality

What began as an idea turned into a dream, a possibility – and now, a promise kept.

"Sometimes I am so overwhelmed," said Homan. "And when I say `shock and awe', you know, it's like, (I) pinch myself, and I'm not dreaming that this is really happening!"

The excitement and enthusiasm are real.

"And I think in some way that was part of the exciting part of it," said Corden, "is just how do you give people hope and a vision and a sense of like, yes, we can do better."

Opening weekend ahead

The new Halperin Bridge Park opens to the public with a full weekend of events, starting with a full weekend of events on Saturday at 9 a.m.