Mr. Mike pointing me to something he thought I might find interesting.
Mr. Mike was right.
For well over a decade, a park at the north end of Fort Worth's downtown, supposedly celebrating Fort Worth's storied heritage, thus named Heritage Park, has been a boarded up, closed, cyclone fence surrounded eyesore.
And sort of an embarrassing metaphor for what a poorly run town Fort Worth is.
When my eyes first saw downtown Fort Worth only two things struck me as being even remotely as unique. One was the Water Gardens at the south end of downtown. The other being Heritage Park at the north end of downtown.
Heritage Park featured multiple walkways and water features, sort of like a futuristic treehouse. The water features were simple and shallow.
And then, well over a decade ago, tragedy struck the Water Gardens, with four visitors to Fort Worth drowned in what is now known as the Death Pool. I remember when I first saw that part of the Water Gardens thinking that does not look safe, but it obviously must be, else wise why would access to the pool be so inviting?
Soon after the tragedy, and resulting lawsuits, a ridiculous reaction happened. Due to Heritage Park also having water features, that park was closed, pending determined that those shallow water features were safe.
As the Heritage Park closure dragged on, year after year, other excuses for its closure were added, such as (what I think are imaginary) structural issues.
Long ago I made a Heritage Park webpage about this travesty, including a message we received from one of the architects who designed the park, who was appalled to learn the city had basically destroyed that which he had helped build.
So, Mr. Mike pointed me to what seemed to me to be a bizarre article about restoring Heritage Park to its former glory. This article appears on the Downtown Fort Worth, Inc. website, and is titled Heritage Park Plaza.
Three paragraphs from this article...
REDISCOVER HERITAGE PLAZA
Heritage Plaza sits on the natural bluff to the Trinity River. Located Northwest of the Tarrant County Courthouse, the park serves as a connection between Downtown and the Trinity River. At 112 acres, Heritage Park, which includes the plaza, is Downtown's largest open space and features some of the most scenic views in Fort Worth.
HERITAGE PLAZA RENOVATION PROJECT
The Fort Worth City Council has committed to reopen Heritage Park Plaza. As part of the larger renovation concept, the City of Fort Worth and DFWI have engaged partners to help restore the plaza while upgrading features, making better connections, and expanding the nearby green space, while preserving the original Plaza concept.
A NEW VISION FOR HERITAGE PARK PLAZA
As part of the restoration efforts, the Design Team presented a Master Plan detailing how Heritage Park could better connect with Downtown and the Trinity River.
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Downtown's largest open space? Featuring the most scenic views in Fort Worth? And yet an unnecessarily boarded up eyesore for over a decade? The city council is committed to reopen this park? As part of a larger concept? Restoration efforts restoring something that was just fine, in no need of restoration, before an inept city leadership stupidly deemed it a liability risk due to imaginary drowning dangers?
I recollect years ago reading the city thought it needed a couple million bucks to get Heritage Park re-opened. Years ago I recollect reading re-opening work had begun. I recollect being at the Heritage Park location and it appearing that a clean up operation was underway.
I recollect, also years ago, being in a booth at the Prairie Fest, with the booth adjacent being occupied by a group raising money to re-open Heritage Park Plaza.
Reading this article from Downtown Fort Worth, Inc. one reads that in May, 2014 the city initiated a bond issue which included $1.5 million for restoration. And then in August, 2016 something called the Downtown TIF approved an additional $1 million for the project.
And now, in 2019, Heritage Park, the park celebrating Fort Worth's storied heritage, remains a boarded up, closed eyesore.
With the 2019 park re-opening fund raising goal being a whopping $25 million!
Give it another decade of being a boarded up eyesore, which in Fort Worth is a likely project timeline, and the price tag should double, triple or quadruple. Or more.
And yet it remains a mystery to those who run Fort Worth in what is known as the Fort Worth Way why the town has trouble attracting tourists, corporate re-locations, or even department and grocery stores downtown.
Potential re-locators visit downtown Fort Worth, ride Molly the Trolley, see that boarded up Heritage Park eyesore, ask for an explanation, then shake their heads as they look down below at another head shaker, that being the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle debacle, one sees from the Heritage Park vantage point, that is, if that vantage point were still accessible...
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