Trinity River Corridor Project

The Trinity River Corridor Project is one of the most monumental public works and economic development projects ever attempted with components of flood protection, recreation, environmental restoration, economic development and major transportation.

The geographic reach spans from Webb Chapel Road in the north to past Interstate 20 in the south, covering roughly 1.5 miles on either side of the river.

It incorporates the 6,000-acre Great Trinity Forest (the largest urban bottomland forest in the world), the Trinity River Audubon Center, the Texas Horse Park, and the trails including the  Trinity Forest Trail the Trinity Strand Trail and the Trinity Skyline Trail.

The project features two signature bridges designed by architect Santiago Calatrava – the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge and Margaret McDermott Bridge – alongside planned urban and economic revitalization zones. 

It includes the former Continental Avenue Bridge, redeveloped as a pedestrian-only linear park and major recreational gateway connecting Downtown Dallas to West Dallas, and renamed the Ronald Kirk Pedestrian Bridge to honor Dallas’ first elected Black mayor.

Dickie+Associates began working on the project, then known as The Balanced Vision Plan, in the late 1990’s with The Dallas Plan under the leadership of Executive Director Karen Walz, FAICP. In 2004, work continued when The Trinity Trust Foundation was formed, under the leadership of Dr. Gail Thomas, President/CEO, to develop and facilitate a concerted public engagement outreach program and raise private monies for the City of Dallas’s Trinity River Corridor Project. Additionally, Dickie+Associates developed the branding, capital fundraising and marketing campaigns for the openings of the Trinity River Audubon Center and the Texas Horse Park.

Community Engagement Outreach

The community engagement outreach of over 200 appearances and events included a speaker’s bureau, guest speaker and donor events, public events, planning charrettes and conferences throughout the city of Dallas designed to educate and address concerns of local communities and neighborhoods about the environmental and economic impact of the project. These provided opportunities for the community to engage with and learn from the project transportation and construction engineers, urban planners, architects, landscape architects, and developers.

Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge Opening Event Plan and Marketing

“Bridging the Trinity for the Love of the City” was the brand developed by Dickie+Associates for the bridge opening with local, national, and international audience reach. In partnership, we coordinated a series of educational outreach and fundraising events engaging the support of target audiences, surrounding neighborhoods and key stakeholders and planned the 3-day opening celebration event of parades, a street fair, live music and fireworks.

The Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge opening event attracted more than 40,000 attendees. The City of Dallas adopted the brand message, “Bridging the Trinity for the Love of the City,” and the brand of the bridge became and remains the number one icon representing Dallas. In the course of executing the marketing strategy, we developed and acquired sponsorships of media, advertising and print, and met and exceeded the donor goal.

Our public relations partner, The Coulter Group, generated local, regional, and national media interest, interviews, and placements in Architectural Digest, The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News, Dallas Business Journal, The Dallas Observer and Good Morning America, among others.

Calatrava Student Constructors STEM Program and Documentary Film

One of the educational components of the Trinity River Corridor Project was the Calatrava Student Constructors STEM Program. The program, designed for 8th and 9th graders, included curriculum development and an engineering and model-building workshop that taught the students about the art, architecture, and engineering of the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge, a cable-stayed vehicular bridge designed by architect Santiago Calatrava.

In partnership with Southern Methodist University’s Summer Youth Program of the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development, SMU’s Talented and Gifted Program, and The Study Center, Inc., we developed the program, sponsorship, marketing campaign, and a documentary film. This opportunity was a great avenue to publicize the STEM component to the students’ respective schools and in the press: My Sweet Charity, North Texas e-news, Advocate Magazine, and others.

The Calatrava Student Constructors documentary film was produced by Judy Kelly Productions as a tool to be used in tandem with approved STEM curriculum for elementary and middle schools. The film premiered as a public event at the Texas Theatre in Oak Cliff, TX. An outstanding student, Simon Cohen, was named and received a scholarship award. Simon gave a talk, “Building Bridges,” focused on the intersection of engineering and aesthetics, highlighted by his experience building a detailed physical model of Santiago Calatrava’s Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge.

Link to documentary