Gateway Park Visit With Beautiful New Fort Worth Outhouses & Boondoggle Signage

Yesterday, for the first time in years, not since 2015, I visited Fort Worth's Gateway Park to see if there has been any progress with the progress in motion we have been told is in motion for years now, with that progress in motion information on signage in the park installed years ago by what has become America's Biggest Boondoggle, also known as the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision.

Actually, now that you are causing me to think about it, it was via construction signs at Gateway Park where I first saw the Boondoggle referred to with Central City and Uptown added to the usual Trinity River Vision name. Panther Island District was added to the name years later.

I had previously seen the new overlooks which look over the Trinity River, which replaced boarded up boardwalks which had been a hazardous eyesore for years.

What you see above is near the entry to one of those new overlooks. The green/blue plastic signage is pointing to the "North Observation Deck" which I guess makes this one the "South Observation Deck".

Also at the entry to the South Overlook, I mean Observation Deck, is a Fort Worth staple, that being a classy outhouse.

Recently the nation, well, a few people in Fort Worth, were shocked to learn Fort Worth mayor, Betsy Price, is "fantastic friends" with Donald Trump. We all talked about this in Betsy Price Fantastic Friend Trump Fort Worth Sewer Flood Fix.

One can not help wonder if an Outhouse Factory is one of Trump's many business enterprises, one of those he operates via a shell corporation so as to avoid being identified as Trump's. That and even Trump probably wouldn't like his name slapped on something like TRUMP TOILETS.

Obviously I am always looking for some explanation as to why Fort Worth is the Outhouse Capital of America. This Trump Betsy BFF explanation is probably a long shot.

Below is a look at part of the South Observation Deck. That blue sign we see stuck on the deck has been added since I was last at this location.

Oh, turns out it is a sign informing us of something the whole world already knows, that being that "RECREATION ABOUNDS ALONG THE TRINITY RIVER".

On this sign we see multiple photo documentation examples of all the recreation abounding on the Trinity River. Starting with the upper left and going clockwise we shall try to identity the various recreation which is abounding. A kid holds a big fish, a group of skullers skulling, a pair of bikers stopped to do some canoodling (not sure on that one), a trio of paddleboarders doing some litter dodging, the instruction to download the TRWD Trails app, dozens of foolish people floating on inner tubes rockin' the river, kayakers with the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth behind them, and finally, a pair of cowgirls riding their horses on one of the Trinity Trails.

Years ago a hurricane, I think it was Hermine, or maybe an earlier one, caused the Trinity to flood. That flood destroyed sections of the paved trails in Gateway Park, leaving the trail in sections hanging over the edge of the river, and closed off by cyclone fence. The most recent time I eye witnessed this was in May of 2015. You can go to the Finding Imaginative Sign Progress By America's Biggest Boondoggle On Saturday Gateway Park Bike Ride blog post and see photos of the sad state of the Gateway Park paved trails at that point in time.

Well, yesterday I was pleased to see, all that was damaged has been fixed, totally removed, with new paved trail installed further away from the river. HUGE improvement. That is a section of the new paved trail you see above.

On that last visit to Gateway Park, when I saw signage identifying the project as part of the Trinity River Central City Uptown development, I saw bulldozers and other heavy equipment busy churning up the earth where a long abandoned sewage treatment used to hide mysteriously behind easily crossed cyclone fence and decades of foliage growth.

That long abandoned sewage treatment plant is all gone now, and what you now see is a big hole, and a lot of earth scraped clear of vegetation. No further activity was noted.

And then I came to something which appalled me, years ago, when I first saw it. A HUGE installation of signage touting the wonders of what America's Biggest Boondoggle was going to do to Gateway Park.

I was freshly appalled to see this signage yesterday, when I saw it and realized it had all been upgraded. With the new signs touting even more things no one currently living on the planet will probably live long enough to see. You can see the new signs have added the important detail of including those green/blue signs you see giving directions all over the zone of occupation of what originally was called the Trinity River Vision.

Searching the blog the earliest I could find where I blogged about this signage was October 10 2010, eight years ago. That blog post is titled The Trinity River Vision's Gateway Park Vision.

The details showing all the wonders to come have grown much more elaborate, showing many of those equally imaginary "community requested recreational amenities" on a large map of Gateway Park. On this big sign there is also mention made of what have become known as J.D. Granger's Magic Trees. The billboard refers to the Magic Trees as "a key initiative, including the planting of over 80,000 native oak and pecan trees."

This billboard includes a "KEY TO GATEWAY PARK AMENITIES" such as "new parking, new entry towers, new pedestrian bridge, new splash park (where is the old one?), new boat launch, existing boat launch, new rock weir (again, where is the old one?), new playground, new picnic area, new ecosystem restoration (again, where is the old one?), existing dog park, new mountain bike course, new equestrian trails, new primitive hiking trails, new soft paved trails, existing trails, existing disc golf course, new scenic river overlooks (I knew I called them such for some reason, before they became observation decks), new concession areas, new restrooms (again, where is the old one?), new skate park (again, where is the old one?), new baseball/softball fields, new soccer fields, existing baseball/softball fields, existing soccer fields.

Now.

How much has America's Biggest Boondoggle spent over the decades on its incredibly prolific sign posting fetish? I think I have asked this question previously. It seems, if I remember right, former TRWD Board Director, Mary Kelleher, tried to find out, but ran into yet one more brickwall block on that information which would seem to be something the public should have access to, the Boondoggle being a public works project, after all.

Supposedly...

I suspect I will be checking in on Gateway Park more frequently. It will be interesting to see if I can detect anything happening...