Trading Spaces.

Watch As Dozens Of Downtown Parking Spots Become City Parks For The Day.

In 2005, the San Francisco-based art and design studio Rebar converted a single metered parking space into a temporary public part for a single day in order to make the point that their city was dedicating 70 percent of their precious public space to private vehicle use.

Dubbed Park(ing) Day, the movement has since spread to more than 140 cities in 35 countries worldwide.

So what's the big deal? The group argues that the small amount of revenue collected at city parking meters isn't worth sacrificing valuable public space. These spaces, they contend, can be used to change the city's urban landscape, and, in the process, the city's character as well.

According to the group's website, the hope is that, with events like Park(ing) Day, they can help “generate critical debate around how public space is created and allocated, and to improve the quality of urban human habitat.”

In 2011, Dallas' inaugural year to participate, the organizations from all across the city converted parking spaces into a public beach, a massage parlor, an art gallery, a lawn bowling course, a public reading room, a dog park and a bike repair shop, among other things.

This year, the two main areas of focus will be downtown on Main Street between St Paul and Griffin, and in the Commercial Center near the intersection of Harwood and Bryan Streets.

More importantly, though, we are proud to announce our own participation this year: The Central Track Public Gym will be located on Main Street between Ervay and St. Paul starting at 11 a.m. tomorrow morning.

Stop by and say hey. We'll have some T-shirts to pass out, some concert tickets to give away and some dumbbells for you to curl.

Should be fun!