Taking A Look At The Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's Products

Yesterday I found myself in downtown Fort Worth.

Since I was in the neighborhood, I thought it would be interesting to check out what I could find of the current state of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle.

It did not take long to notice that Panther Island signage, in various iterations, had proliferated since I'd last been in this location. Signage such as a billboard pointing to the parking lot for that which is called Panther Island Pavilion.

More on Panther Island Pavilion later on our tour, but first, before I got to that location I came upon something I had not expected to see.

As I walked towards Panther Island I saw cranes hovering above the Trinity River levees. Could those cranes have anything to do with the building of The Boondoggle's Three Bridges Over Nothing I wondered to myself.

When I got to the area of the cranes, by the Henderson Street bridge across the Trinity, I hiked up the levee to see that which you see above, that being signage touting The Boondoggle's bridges, claiming I was witnessing "Progress in Motion".

Below you can see what "Progress in Motion" looks like.

Traffic is now detoured off Henderson Street. I could not figure out what the cranes were doing. The only sign of construction that I could make out was it appeared some dirt has been moved. With these bridges being built over nothing, over where eventually, maybe, a ditch will be dug, one would assume that the bridge's foundations would be dug to ditch level, or deeper, to build a bridge over nothing.

Regarding bridges, yesterday during my walk along the Trinity River I discovered something shocking about one of the bridges over the Trinity, documented with a historical marker, which I will blog about in a subsequent blogging.

After marveling at The Boondoggle's bridge "Progress in Motion" I continued on to the Heart of The Boondoggle. Panther Island Pavilion, where there is no island or pavilion. Well, what most people would consider to be a pavilion in propaganda free locations on the planet where words have specific meanings.

I assume the sad structure in the foreground and the other structure on the other side of the river are what The Boondoggle is referring to as being pavilions. So, why is the venue not called Panther Island Pavilions, if there are two of the imaginary pavilions on the imaginary island?

I then crossed the Trinity to the "beach" side of the river, where I saw that the sophisticated restroom facilities for one of the world's premiere urban music venues had not been upgraded since my last visit.

Shouldn't that be "OMG" on the door of the outhouse? Not "MMG". What is the point of surrounding an outhouse with a concrete enclosure? To the left of the outhouse is a solitary shower, I assume so all the River Rockers can line up and wash off the river water when they are done with their happy hour inner tube floating.

I did not think anything could impress me more than the Panther Island Pavilion Outhouse, and then I came upon that which you see below.

The Boondoggle is now calling the area where the Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube Floats take place a beach. For your amazed amusement I'll copy that which is on the sign on the lifeguard's perch below.

PANTHER ISLAND PAVILION

PUBLIC BEACH

CLOSED FROM 10pm - 5am

SWIM AT OWN RISK

NO LITTERING

NO GLASS OR STYROFOAM

NO FISHING FROM BEACH AREA

NO UNAUTHORIZED VEHICLES

NO OPEN FIRES

CLEAN UP AFTER PETS

NO DISORDERLY CONDUCT

A PRODUCT OF THE TRINITY RIVER VISION

I think the Panther Island Pavilion Outhouse and the Panther Island Pavilion Beach are perfect visual metaphors for the product quality level the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle is bringing to Fort Worth and its millions of visitors.

Continuing on with my Boondoggle tour, just when I thought nothing could top the Panther Island Pavilion Outhouse and the Panther Island Pavilion Beach as visual metaphors for the product quality level the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle is bringing to Fort Worth and its millions of visitors I came upon that which you see below.

The Panther Island Pavilion Shack. In an admirable example of recycling.

The garage which used to house the Tandy subway cars before the world's shortest subway was lost to the Radio Shack Corporate Headquarters debacle has been re-born as another product of the Trinity River Vision by being turned into a beer hall.

I was able to sneak a peak inside the Panther Island Pavilion Shack and realized I was looking at yet one more visual metaphor for the product quality level the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle is bringing to Fort Worth and its millions of visitors.

Well, that concludes today's look at what some of what Fort Worth has bought with the millions of dollars already spent by the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle.

I wonder how much The Boondoggle has spent on all its self-serving signage? And how much concrete enclosed outhouses cost....