Friday, April 28, 2017

Will E.Coli Levels Be Low Enough For Six Saturday Fort Worth River Rockin's?

Big announcement in this morning's Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

The Trinity River Vision Authority is moving its hugely popular Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube Floats from Thursday to Saturday, with six floating events, with Saturday allowing for extended floating  hours.

From the Rockin’ the River series moves to Saturdays article...

Rockin’ the River is changing course this year. The weekly summer concert-and-tubing series, thrown by the Trinity River Vision Authority at Fort Worth’s Panther Island Pavilion, is moving from a Thursday happy-hour event to an all-afternoon Saturday festival to be held over the course of six Saturdays.

"Thrown by the Trinity River Vision Authority at Fort Worth's Panther Island Pavilion" where the island is imaginary, and I think that spot where the guitar player is strumming is what America's Biggest Boondoggle misnomers as a pavilion.

The article's illustrative photo shows a lot of floaters.

I have long been puzzled as to why the fact that so many Fort Worthers are willing to get themselves wet in the Trinity River, what with occasionally cancelled river floats due to E.Coli pollution levels being too high, that, and the occasional visiting alligator, is not seen as being a real pitiful indicator that Fort Worth is sadly, badly lacking in water venues in which to cool off when Summer gets HOT.

Just a couple days ago I was similarly puzzled when I read that downtown Fort Worth's only venue that even faintly resembled a grocery store, Oliver's Fine Foods, had closed. I would think that the failure of downtown Fort Worth's only grocery store-like venue would prompt some sort of realization that there must be something not quite right with downtown Fort Worth.

Other big cities, smaller in population than Fort Worth, about which I am familiar, have multiple large full functioning grocery stores in their downtown zone. Along with multiple department stores.

Downtown Fort Worth has not a single department store. Not a Neiman-Marcus, not a Nordstrom. Not even a Sears or a Dillards. One would think the lack of a department store, and grocery store, would  prompt some serious thinking about such a downtown's vitality. But, I guess it is easier just to continue to trumpet the imaginary wonders of Sundance Square, where there is no square, but there finally is a plaza, called Sundance Square Plaza, after confusing Fort Worth's few tourists for decades with signage pointing to Sundance Square, where there is no square.

As for Fort Worth's lack of a place for the locals to cool off and get wet in mass. All of Fort Worth's ponds and lakes, like Fosdick Lake in Oakland Lake Park, forbid swimming due to pollution problems.

Fort Worth does have one pristine water venue. Burgers'  Lake.

From the Burger's Lake website...

Located in Fort Worth, Texas, Burger's Lake offers summer fun for everyone. Burger's Lake is a 30-acre park featuring a one-acre spring-fed lake for swimming. Our facility includes two sandy beaches for sunning with wonderful big trees for shade.

Burger's Lake is run as a private business, charging a semi-hefty admission fee.

The "government" in its various forms, which runs Fort Worth like an oligarchy fiefdom, has no qualms about abusing eminent domain to take private property, even when it is not for eminent domain's intended use of taking private property for the public good.

Instead, in Fort Worth, eminent domain is abused for the private gain of those whose property value stands to increase due to the theft.

How about a correct use of eminent domain, for once in Fort Worth's sordid eminent domain abuse history? Why not take Burger's Lake for the public good and turn this pristine spring-fed lake into a public park? With Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube Floats in an E.Coli, alligator free environment.

Or build a HUGE water venue. This has been done in other locales in America. In towns much smaller than Fort Worth. Take Garden City, Kansas, for instance. Population less than 30,000.

Garden City has a pool, bigger than a football field, originally called "The Big Dipper", now simply called "The Big Pool". The Big Pool is big enough for water skiing to take place. On a HOT summer day as many as around 2,000 people can be found cooling off in The Big Pool.

What stops a city like Fort Worth, obviously in dire need of such a venue, from digging itself a Big Pool? I know the usual excuses. Lack of vision.  Horrible city leadership. Corruption. The same type thinking which has the majority of Fort Worth city parks lacking running water or modern restrooms.

And much of the city's streets lacking sidewalks....

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