CASE STUDY:

Generating Community Support for Essential Infrastructure Updates

Client: Dallas Water Utilities

Industry: Infrastructure

Services:

  • Marketing Plans

  • Community Engagement

  • Stakeholder Relations

  • Content Development

Recognition:

  • PRGN Best Practice Award, Community Relations

In 2015, the City of Dallas was preparing a major overhaul of the Walcrest Pump Station and Reservoir. Originally built in 1956, the facility serves nearly one million Dallas residents both directly and indirectly, making the updates critical to ensure reliable water quality for decades to come. Located at the major intersection of Walnut Hill Lane and Hillcrest Road, as well as adjacent to a large public high school, the city knew disruption would be inevitable. As one of Dallas Water Utilities’ (DWU) largest redevelopment projects to date, transparent community relations would be essential to the project’s success.

Three Box was brought in to serve as a community liaison from the beginning of the project through its completion in August 2022. Utilizing tactics ranging from town hall meetings to graphic design and web development, Three Box aimed to generate and maintain positive public perception of the project from groundbreaking to ribbon-cutting.

Read on to learn more about our strategies, tactics and results.

As project activity began, Three Box developed a community engagement strategy designed to educate key constituents on the need for the project and the overall value it would bring to the community. Doing so would reduce potential for negative community perception and enable the project to progress efficiently. Key messaging was an important part of the plan, emphasizing benefits, answering frequently asked questions and identifying fun facts to inform future content development. 

Additionally, Three Box conducted comprehensive research on the primary stakeholders that would be most impacted by the project, including neighborhood residents, home owners associations, the Hillcrest High School community, commuters, local businesses, City Council representatives and more.

Throughout the project, Three Box leveraged several key strategies to build and maintain positive community awareness of the Walcrest project. We engaged with primary constituents before, during and after the project to establish transparency and gather feedback to share with the project teams. Additionally, we kept audiences informed in real-time, sharing critical updates through various communications channels, including a project microsite, social media, signage, town hall meetings and more. Lastly, we nurtured these community relationships throughout the project, arranging site tours, conducting door-to-door outreach and facilitating speaking opportunities for DWU representatives to discuss the project’s impact.

When challenges arose throughout the project’s lifespan, Three Box was quick to pivot our approach to maintain the community trust that had been built. A few challenges we encountered included project delays, negative media coverage and resident disputes, but all were resolved with positive public perception intact.

With the project officially completed in August 2022, Three Box coordinated a ribbon-cutting ceremony and facility tour to commemorate the long-awaited milestone. Attendees included neighbors, construction partners, City of Dallas officials and members of the media.

Despite its long duration, the Walcrest project ended on a high note, thanks, in part, to Three Box’s strategic approach to community relations. Specific results included:

  • Throughout the project’s duration, Walcrest gained a combined 195 followers across Facebook and Twitter

  • The 2022 ribbon cutting ceremony and facility tour was a community-wide hit, with 50+ constituents and four major media outlets (both English and Spanish) in attendance

  • Media coverage surrounding the project’s completion and ribbon-cutting ceremony generated a combined audience of 51.5k for an average media value of $8.8k

  • Throughout the project’s duration and several election cycles, the Walcrest project was publicly supported by the district’s city councilmembers

    • Both current councilmembers provided remarks during the ribbon-cutting ceremony

    • They also shared a Three Box-produced ribbon-cutting ceremony video with constituents via social media and email newsletters, further amplifying news of the project’s completion

  • Despite numerous delays that pushed it nearly 4 years past its original timeline for completion, the Walcrest Pump Station and Reservoir renovation project received constituent support from start to finish –thanks to Three Box’s consistent, transparent and impactful approach to community relations

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