Tomorrow, we'll have much more from the Build a Better Boulevard event presently slowing traffic along a stretch of Ross near and into downtown; maybe I'll even let Leslie run the photo she took of me submerged into the dumpster swimming pool parked in Fellowship Church's lot at Ross and Central ... after Andrew Howard pushed me in, that is, high-tops and all. Not that I was complaining: That was a surprisingly long bike ride, past City Hall and through Deep Ellum, just to go from Main Street Garden to DISD HQ. But the 7-year-old held his own (very proud), and many thanks to the safety-card-handing-out Dallas Fire-Rescue worker -- Scott, didn't catch the last name -- and Mr. Angela Hunt, Paul Sims, who hung back and encouraged the lad to keep a-pedalin'.
Ran into myriad city officials strolling amongst the food trucks and Wanda Dye-led UTA-built food court (complete with puzzle-piece seating made from old fences) and We Are 1976 pop-up DART stop (seen above) in the empty field between Liberty and Pavilion. Linda Koop and Ann Margolin were out for a stroll following the 11:30 press conference at Dallas Black Dance HQ. Theresa O'Donnell, director of Sustainable Development and Construction, and her second-in-command, Peer Chacko, were hanging out in the Fellowship Church parking lot, across the street from the pop-up dog park. Assistant City Manager A.C. Gonzalez refused our invitation to jump in the dumpster pool.
Further down, near the Arts District, was that open-air market parked right in the middle of Ross; there was even a piano perched in the pop-up plaza. As we stood in the middle of the street, a woman -- young, around mid-20s -- drove by, slowly, and rolled down her window. She asked, "What is this?" We tried to explain. She said, "Hunh," and kept on trucking.
Bands and solo acts are also playing up and down the avenue till 'round 4ish; we snacked on a banh mi and gulped down a mint lemonade while Don Cento fought the wind sweeping through the UTA architecture students' food court, causing the covering -- vinyl repurposed from old billboards -- to ripple like surf-rider waves. In all, very ... can I even say this? ... Congress Avenue. A start, at least, as you'll see from the few more photos that follow. Now, who's got the aloe vera?
