Monday, February 2, 2009

Dallas Cowboy Island at River Legacy Park

Yesterday someone named Jeff left a comment on a post called "River Legacy Park Destruction Surprise." Basically Jeff did a big "Amen" to what I'd said about what I'd seen.

So, today I decided to ride my bike on the River Legacy trail and see what the current state of destruction is. Before I go any further I will tell you I was not feeling righteously umbraged by what I learned. This surprised me.

I parked at the main part of the park at the south side of the Trinity River, near the mountain bike trailhead. Crossing the bridge to the other side of what they are now calling Snider Legacy Creek, I came upon the sign you see above. I figured this closure was likely where I'd earlier seen preparations being made for a pipeline. I decided I'd pedal all the way to the end, to check it out. Even though I'd already hiked an hour on the strenuous Tandy Hills.

There were a lot of pieces of heavy equipment moving a lot of dirt, diesel fumes and dust in the air. I was not pleased. A couple years ago I got an overly earnest email from a River Legacy Park employee demanding I make certain changes to the webpage I'd made about River Legacy. And inform her when the changes were made. I made no changes. You can read that email and more here.

The River Legacy Employee's main deal was that River Legacy offers a natural experience and is trying to restore damaged areas. I was aiding and abetting the destroyers. Soon after that I was nearly killed by a natural gas seismic tester going the wrong way on a motorized vehicle on the River Legacy mountain bike trail.

So, I was pretty fed up with the hypocrisy of some of those associated with River Legacy. It bugged me that they were keeping kids from having fun building stunt bike trails. Those kids worked hard doing that. They were doing no harm to any sort of pristine natural area.

Back to today. So I was pedalling along and I stopped to take a picture of what looked to be some sort of dam, near where the beaver dam used to be. I thought this was all flood control land in the flood plain. Then I saw a guy come into view on the other side of the temporary fence. He was walking along the fence. When he got near me I asked what he was doing. He told me.

Then I asked what's going on here? Is this the Bird's Fort Development I read about long ago? He told me it was. I said it seemed way bigger than what I'd read. He said it was.

The project has changed since its inception. Projects often do. It was always supposed to be an ecologically friendly, high end type development. Due to the flood plain issue, the Army Corps of Engineers has become involved.

The existing "lakes" will be dredged, way way deeper. A new "lake" has been created west of Collins Street, dug deep enough to tap into the Trinity River Aquifer. This new "lake" will feed a series of several "lakes" in the Bird's Fort development.

Bird's Fort has been destroyed. It was already in bad shape. A facsimile will be put in its place along with historical markers. Bird's Fort was the location of one of the first American forts in north Texas.

An island is being built, surrounded completely by the "lakes." That island will be called Cowboy Island. For the use of the Dallas Cowboys. Either for homes, or, it is rumored, the current Dallas Cowboy training camp will be moved to Cowboy Island from Valley Ranch.

The "lake" nearest Collins Street will have a white sand beach and aerating fountains to keep the water clear. And open to the public for swimming. Currently none of the water retention ponds are swimmable due to being infested with water moccasins.

The land is owned by the Huffines. According to my anonymous source, the Huffines are the second biggest property owners in Texas, after the Perots. I learned this when I asked why there seemed to be no public discussion about what is going on here? Basically I got told that in Texas people like the Huffines do what they want to do and don't worry about little things like seeing if the public is on board with such a drastic alteration of the landscape.

I was told that the area abutting River Legacy Park is going to be totally restored, planted with native Texas Prairie Grass. The "lakes" will be full year round. This will definitely be an aesthetic improvement.

What really struck me about this "lake" project and the scope of it, was both Dallas and Fort Worth have had Trinity River Vision Projects that have been going on for years, both involving lakes. But little progress can be seen. While in Arlington, somehow a Trinity River Vision Project came to be with no fanfare and is now well underway with dirt moving and lakes filling, soon with the Dallas Cowboys on an island.

It all seems almost poetic.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Durango!
When I found out about the developement going on by River Legacy last year I decided to do some research. First I e-mailed the vice president of the Veridian Projest (the name of the small town tht is going to be built there) and asked him if they were going to restore the trash dump that the Bird's Fort original marker has become as I was concerned about it. He e-mailed me back stating that the property the marker was on is not part of the project as the owners would not sell. He also stated that if they were to aquire the property that the original marker would be given a place of honor.(as in a small park or something)
I haven't been to the original marker since last year due to a severely broken ankle and my car is too low to go on that road. But if you go to Euless Main on Trinity and go south, you should see the marker after going past Calloway Cemetary Road and going to the end which is a turn around.
You cannot get there thru River Legacy.
Be carefull-I had a snake slither across my boot the last time I was there! It was about 4 1/2 ft long.
Maybe I'll try to go there this afternoon if business doesn't call.
Anyway here is a link to the site which describes the comunnity being built along River Legacy.

http://www.huffinescommunities.com/comm-viridian.aspx

You can enlarge any of the topo maps and where you see a space that looks like a boot, (appropriate huh?) that is where the original site is and you can see that it is not included in the plans. Also in that space not owned by Huffines is Calloway Lake which used to be THE spot to go back in the late 1800 and early 1900's. There used to be a gun club there and there are some old concrete towers still standing. (maybe for skeet?)
Now-that is, if nothing has changed.
Also the land that is northwest of the marker is a toxic dump which Huffines might not have wanted to pay to clean up.
Anyway, I hope that helps.

Durango said...

Thanks for the info, Anonymous. I'll go check out the Huffines info. I never did find Bird's Fort pedalling around the rugged zone off the River Legacy Park property. I was told yesterday that all the off road vehicle stuff will be removed, or already is, like the giant treehouse. What a shame. I liked that treehouse. Too scary looking to climb up, but cool looking anyway.