When Mayor Mike Rawlings announced in October a $50 million pledged donation toward the construction of the latest vision for the Trinity River Project, the news came paired with an equally big revelation. With the new donation, the Trinity Trust, the nonprofit organization founded in the wake of the completion of the Balanced Vision Plan to raise money for the construction of the Trinity River Park, would change its name to the Trinity River Conservancy and move to become the operator of the planned new park in the Trinity River Floodway.
Like the mayor’s plan to have Fair Park managed by a private entity, the idea of turning over management of the city-owned floodway to a nonprofit organization suggested an entirely new direction for the future of the project. On the one hand, the city’s management of the Trinity has come under much criticism over the years, and nonprofits like the Audubon Center have shown that private management can prove successful in implementing aspects of the Trinity River Project vision. On the other hand, in the context of a project that has long been criticized for political obfuscation and cronyism, turning over the park to a nonprofit threatens to remove some public oversight of the project.
Now for some more big news: as the Trinity Trust plans its transition into a new organizational structure, Gail Thomas, the longtime head of the Trust, has announced she will retire at the end of the year.
Thomas founded the Trust in the early 2000s, and, under her leadership, the organization raised the funds to construct two Santiago Calatrava-designed bridges over the river, as well as the Continental Street Pedestrian Bridge — sorry, the Ronald Kirk Pedestrian Bridge. The Trust has also organized events in the Trinity over the years, such as the annual Wind Festival.
However, as the larger plans for the Trinity stalled amidst decades of debate over a controversial toll road and insufficient funding, some of the Trust’s efforts, such as the botched construction of a white water course that wrecked navigation of the river, came under criticism for being out of sync with a proper ecological understanding of the nature of the Trinity River.
Still, Thomas has been one of the Trinity River’s most enduring champions, pushing civic leaders to recognize the river as a natural resource at a time when most Dallasites thought of it as stinky ditch, if they were even aware that Dallas had a river at all. Thomas’ legacy extends well beyond the Trinity. As a founding fellow of the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture and the creator of its Center for the City, Thomas has spent her life lecturing, writing, and advocating for a vision of a city that transcends a mere pragmatic amalgamation of physical, social, and political networks, a city that is rooted to a deeper sense of its culture, identity, history, and destiny.
In the early 1980s, as the booming march of sprawl pushed Dallas’ development farther and farther north, Thomas was responsible for bringing to Dallas people like William H. Whyte, as well as many other progressive urban thinkers, who spoke about the need for small places, public spaces, walkable environments, and healthy, human-scale cities.
In other words, at a time when some of Dallas’ more prominent urban advocates were still toddlers, Thomas was pushing Dallas to rethink its identity as a city, to create spaces for public life, and to find better urban models to emulate.
In recent years, we at the magazine haven’t always seen eye to eye with Thomas with regards to the most appropriate vision of the future Trinity, particularly the original dream of creating a “Central Park” for Dallas. While the idea of building a great park in the Trinity Floodway helped to raise the awareness of many in Dallas to see the Trinity as an asset and not an impediment, it was also an attempt to apply a foreign urban model to the highly complicated landscape that created as many problems as it solved.
But the spirit that has always been at the core of Thomas’ work with the Trust is a respect for the river and an optimistic vision of its future. With her departure, it will be interesting to see what direction, shape, and character the new Trinity River Conservancy takes.
Here’s the full release:
The Trinity Trust President and CEO Gail Thomas to Retire at Year End
Leader is grateful for opportunity to work on the Trinity
(Dallas, TX – December 13, 2016) After two decades of working on Dallas’ Trinity River Corridor Project, longtime leader and city builder Gail Thomas is retiring from The Trinity Trust Foundation at the end of 2016. During her tenure, The Trinity Trust raised $105 million for projects in the Trinity River corridor, including the recent $50 million donation for the Trinity River Park.
“My resignation as president of The Trinity Trust comes with gratitude for the opportunity to have served my city, Dallas, a city I love, with a fullness of heart,” said Thomas. “I feel especially fortunate to have worked in the center of our city on the Trinity – a river that has divided our communities for so many years and now has the opportunity to bridge that divide and bring us together as a city.”
Thomas began her work with the Trinity when then-Mayor Laura Miller asked her in 2002 to be on a team to develop what emerged as the Balanced Vision Plan, approved unanimously by the Dallas City council in 2003. Subsequently, Thomas formed The Trinity Trust to provide private funds and public outreach in support of projects in the Trinity River corridor. Thomas worked to raise funds for design fees for two Santiago Calatrava-designed bridges over the Trinity: the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge and Margaret McDermott Bridge. She initiated, with former Trinity Trust Board of Directors Chair Mary McDermott Cook, the transformation of the Ronald Kirk Bridge (formally the Continental Avenue Bridge) from a vehicular bridge to a pedestrian and bicycle bridge. She was involved in the creation of the Dallas CityDesign Studio to inspire the best design and urban planning practices for the Trinity and surrounding areas through funding by Deedie Rose and the late Rusty Rose. Thomas has engaged the community with countless presentations, symposia and events about the potential the Trinity offers in creating unity, hospitality, and beauty within the heart of our city.
After announcing the historic $50 million gift from Annette Simmons for the Trinity River Park, Mayor Mike Rawlings said, “We’ve made great progress on the Trinity River Corridor Project in recent years, including miles of trails, life-saving flood control projects, two signature Santiago Calatrava bridges and the opening and dedication of the Ronald Kirk Bridge and Felix H. Lozada, Sr. Gateway. Most recently, we announced a $50 million gift toward design and development of a grand Trinity Park to be named for the late Harold Simmons. This project is and always has been a public-private collaboration and we never would have achieved these feats without Gail’s leadership at The Trinity Trust. Gail is the spirit and the poet for our Trinity. The citizens of Dallas owe her a great deal.”
Having realized a life-long vision – a central park for Dallas- Thomas is eager to focus on the next chapter of her life by completing and publishing her fifth book and spending long weekends at her East Texas home with her large family.
“When a park is finally realized within the Trinity River basin, it will be due in large measure because of the persistence and careful nurturing by Gail Thomas of a dream held by so many people for decades,” said Deedie Rose, Chair of The Trinity Trust Board of Directors. “Gail believes absolutely in the idea that people from all parts of the city can be connected through nature, through a park, with a river running through it.”
Garrett Boone, Vice Chair of The Trinity Trust Board of Directors, said, “Gail has been providing head, heart and soul leadership and inspiration for over 30 years to recognize and honor the beauty and potential of the Trinity River corridor. In doing so, she has inspired us all to continue making that vision a reality.”
After the October announcement of Annette Simmons’ generous gift to name the future Harold Simmons Park in the Trinity River corridor, it is an excellent time for The Trinity Trust to move into its next stage, to be guided by a new director and to be renamed the Trinity Park Conservancy. The upcoming years will consist of working together with the City of Dallas and the City Council, engaging the community and moving forward with fundraising, design and construction of the park.
Thomas’ passion for city building was always in her soul. With the late Dr. Louise Cowan, she originated and directed the Center for Civic Leadership at the University of Dallas. In 1980, she co-founded the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture and served as its director for 18 years. She will continue to serve as director of its Center for the City, where she teaches and conducts seminars and conferences. With her work on the creation of Pegasus Plaza, the restoration of the original flying Pegasus in Downtown Dallas, and the purchase and restoration of the Belo Mansion for the Dallas Bar Foundation, Thomas has received numerous awards including the Kessler Award, the award for excellence in Community Service by the Dallas Historical Society, as well as numerous awards given by Dallas AIA, Texas Society of Architects and the American Institute of Architects. She is a distinguished alumna from both Southern Methodist University and the University of Dallas and is a recipient of SMU’s J. Erik Jonsson Ethics Award.
