Sunday, October 4, 2015

I Did Not Almost Drown Or Fall Yesterday At Fort Worth's Heritage Park

Yesterday when I blogged about a Saturday Morning Walk Around Downtown Fort Worth With Sundance Square Plaza Video I mentioned that I had also walked around the closed, cyclone fence surrounded eyesore known as Heritage Park. I said that I would blog about this the following day, likely in the morning.

But, when Sunday morning came I forgot about blogging about  Heritage Park, til now.

The first time I visited downtown Fort Worth's #1 eyesore it was easy to get past the boarded up parts and cyclone fence barriers. Now, years later, the boarded up aspect of the eyesore is gone. With the cyclone fence much more substantial, with no openings allowing easy access. There are "PARK CLOSED" signs, but no "KEEP OUT" signs, but I kept out anyway.

In the above photo on the cement wall on the left you can see a little white rectangle. That little white rectangle is what you see below.


I believe this sign must have been added after the Water Gardens drownings. I do not recollect seeing this sign on Heritage Park visits prior to the drownings.

RISK OF DROWNING? In what? None of the Heritage Park water features were deep enough to drown in. I suppose if one fainted and fell face down in six inches of water one might drown.

RISK OF SEVERE INJURY FROM FALLS IN HIGH OVERLOOK  AREAS? Well, duh. That  is sort of stating the obvious, isn't it?

In all the years Heritage Park was open did anyone get remotely close to drowning? Did anyone fall from any of the high overlook areas? It would be rather difficult to fall from any of the high overlook areas. One would have to somehow get over the high guard rail.

Below you get a look at part of the CLOSED PARK. The years of neglect are starting to show.


The reasons given by the city for closing Heritage Park have seemed bogus to me from the start. The initial reason was the ridiculous drowning risk and the liability faced by the city, fearing another lawsuit such as what followed the Water Garden drownings.

Later the city made claims that there were structural issues with Heritage Park's walkways. Still later mechanical issues were added, as in water pump problems. Yet somehow when Heritage Park was still open there seemed to be no problem with the water flowing.  And the cement structures appeared to be solid as a rock.

And now, all these years later the city is claiming it will  take a few million bucks to restore Heritage Park from the damage done by its bogus closing. How many more years will this embarrassment continue to fester in downtown Fort Worth.  Seems impossible, what with it being the best downtown in America and the envy of the entire nation.

Below is video of yesterday's look at Heritage Park....

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