While the Katy Trail has been the spot for walking, running and cycling for years, the arrival of COVID-19 since March has turned it into the most popular place to shake off the anxieties of the day. Even before the virus changed our way of life, the Trail was having more than 1M users annually. Since March that usage has increased 20%.
Luckily, the Friends of the Katy Trail recognized the need for the Trail to undergo some major improvements more than a year-and-a-half ago. That’s when it quietly undertook a capital campaign — The Campaign To Complete the Katy Trail — to provide $8M for the building of a soft-surface path running parallel to the concrete path used by cyclists, as well as the planting of trees, native grasses and bushes.
According to Friends of The Katy Trail Board of Directors President Charlie Shufeldt, “The Katy Trail needs to be completed for the benefit of Dallas now, as well as for its future growth.”
It was just announced that thanks to the lead gift of $2.5M from Lyda Hill, the private campaign had reached the $7M mark. Now the campaign is underway for the public phase encouraging the entire community to help meet the goal.
Charlie said, “This gift is a testament to the vital community role that the Katy Trail fulfills in Dallas by connecting people, neighborhoods and other trails.”
Other large donors have included the City of Dallas, Lindsay and Blake Shipp and Laurie Sands Harrison, Capitol Peak Ventures, Katy Trail Ice House, Lydia and Bill Addy, Hillcrest Foundation and Pollock Foundation.
BTW, while the Trail is a City of Dallas park, it is up to the Friends operate and maintain it.
To be part of the final push, contact Major Gifts Director Ann Whitley Wood.
* Photo provided by the Friends of Katy Trail