FEATURE ARTICLE, MAY 2009

Q&A On Topic: Stimulus-Funded Projects
While states across the country scramble to secure their share of federal stimulus dollars, some Texas construction projects, including the three below, have already received funding.
Compiled by Coleman Wood

WOODALL RODGERS PARK
Downtown Dallas

The Woodall Rodgers Park Plaza Foundation is set to receive $16.7 million in federal stimulus funds toward the construction of a deck plaza over the Woodall Rodgers Freeway in downtown Dallas. The Texas Department of Transportation Commission awarded the funds. The project will connect downtown, the Arts District, Uptown, and Victory Park, and a 5-acre urban park called The Woodall Rodgers Park will be built on top of the deck plaza structure. Plans for the $80 million deck park include jogging trails, a dog park, a children’s playground, a restaurant, a performance pavilion, a water sculpture, and an area for games. The Office of James Burnett, in conjunction with engineering firm Jacobs Carter Burgess, is designing the park. Bjerke Management Solutions is project manager. The Woodall Rodgers Freeway Deck Plaza is funded and developed through a public/private partnership including the Texas Department of Transportation, the City of Dallas, the North Central Texas Council of Governments, and the private sector’s Woodall Rodgers Park Foundation. Utility construction began in February; deck construction is slated for late summer or early fall. The shovel-ready transportation enhancement project is estimated to create 1,000 immediate jobs and stimulate additional economic development and job growth in the future.

VA Extended Care Facility
Tyler, Texas

The city of Tyler has secured $8.6 million in federal stimulus funds for the construction of a 160-bed extended care facility for the Department of Veterans Affairs. The facility will provide ongoing care and basic medical services for military veterans. The project will be located on Texas Highway 155, just west of Texas Highway 271, at a 20-acre site that was donated by the University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler for the construction of a new VA nursing homes. The construction timeline was not released. In addition, the city of Houston received the other portion of an approximately $17 million block of stimulus funds allocated for the construction of VA nursing homes in east Texas.

Fort Hood Military Hospital
Fort Hood, Texas

The federal economic stimulus package will provide $621 million for the construction of a new military hospital at Fort Hood. The base’s current hospital, the five-story Carl R. Darnell Army Medical Center, was constructed in 1964. It has the capacity to accommodate 30,000 troops but serves almost twice that amount, as well as military families and veterans. The new medical center is expected to be able to serve 55,000 soldiers, 67,000 military families and 52,000 veterans. Construction plans were not released.

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