Mr. Mike's $25 Million Fort Worth Heritage Park Restoration Debacle

I have been a little distracted the past week, so I forgot about that which see here, til this morning.

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. 

_______________

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...

A Tale Of Burlington's Maiben Park Fix & Fort Worth's Heritage Park Fix Failure

Yesterday around this time I was having myself a mighty fine time having a chilly walk with the Indian Ghosts who haunt Arlington's Village Creek Natural Historical Area.

Whilst I was doing my Ghost Walking I was pondering something I had read via website links emailed to me by Spencer Jack's dad, my Favorite Nephew Jason.

The website links were to articles about Maiben Park in my old hometown of Burlington. I grew up across the street from Maiben Park.

When I lived by Maiben Park it was a peaceful, safe place, always with a lot of kids playing.

Last year a teenager was murdered in Maiben Park. Homeless people were using Maiben Park as a residence. There were drug use problems. All sorts of problems none of which existed decades ago when I lived across the street.

The articles Jason sent me detailed what Burlington is doing to fix the problems of Maiben Park. This struck me as such a contrast with how things happen in my old home zone and how things happen in Fort Worth. For years now downtown Fort Worth has had a boarded up, cyclone fence surrounded eyesore, a park formerly celebrating Fort Worth's heritage, called, appropriately, Heritage Park.

Fort Worth's Heritage Park had very minor supposed problems which led to its closure, including homeless people using the park's water features for bathing purposes. Supposedly people felt there were security issues. It's been years now that Fort Worth has been unable to figure out how to restore its Lost Heritage.

So, what is little Burlington, population around 9,000, doing to fix the problems in Maiben Park?

Security cameras are being installed which will cover the entire park.

LED lighting is being installed to illuminate the entire park, including the area we always called "The Woods". Apparently The Woods had become popular with homeless people. The Woods is one of the few remaining stands of old growth forest on the floor of the Skagit Valley.

The restroom is being moved to a more open location. And redesigned. Yes, unlike most parks in Fort Worth, Burlington's parks have modern restrooms. Prior to the new one being built several decades ago, the previous modern restroom was built way back early in the previous century. Yes, modern plumbing has existed that long in other parts of America.

Those are just a few of the improvements being made to Maiben Park that I read about in the Burlington Leaders Propose Changes to Maiben Park article Jason directed me to.

Til reading the articles Jason directed me to, I did not realize Maiben Park now has a water feature for kids to play in. And that the Little League field is no longer used, with Little League, and other types of baseball, now being played in Burlington's complex of ball fields which have made the town a mecca for regional baseball games.

Reading the articles I learned that there was a lot of public input into the Maiben Park fixes. How is it little Burlington can bring about fixes to a park's problems, while a big city like Fort Worth dithers and dawdles unable to fix simpler problems in a park celebrating the town's heritage?

Very perplexing....

$7 Million May Reopen Fort Worth's Blighted Heritage Park In Coming Years

In the picture you are standing on an overlook in Fort Worth's closed Heritage Park, looking at the confluence of the Clear and West Forks of the Trinity River.

I think this is where, in a decade or two, you may be looking at the Kay Granger Trinity River Vision Boondoggle Puddle.

When I first checked out downtown Fort Worth, two things, only two, impressed me. One was the Water Gardens at the south end of downtown. The other was Heritage Park at the north end of downtown.

With Heritage Park, to me, being the more impressive of the two things that impressed me.

I was very unimpressed, one day in 2007, when I pedaled my bike up to Heritage Park from the Trinity Trail to discover it was closed, surrounded by tacky chain link fence. The curvy brick trail that leads from the Trinity Trail to Heritage Park had also fallen on hard times.

I was appalled. I webpaged my appallation. If appallation is a word. If not, it should be.

I thought to myself, what sort of self-respecting town would let such a thing, within a stone's throw of the county court house, be boarded up and neglected like this?

Outside the Heritage Park chained link fence barricade there is a three-sided sign, singing the praises of Fort Worth's heritage, and the park that celebrates that heritage.

One side of the three-sided sign says......

The Vision Endures
   The people of Fort Worth look to the future with a vision shared by their first settlers. From a diversity of backgrounds, we stand together today with a spirit and determination that ensure a unique quality of life.
   While purposeful growth continues on gently rolling plains, Fort Worth retains her rich heritage with inner city redevelopment and historic preservation. Businesses and industries stand strong against economic adversity while ample water resources and great open spaces of river banks, bluffs, lakes and parks make this city an ideal place to live and grow, just as Major Arnold envisioned on that day in 1849,
   As Fort Worth began, so it continues. The enduring sprit that built the city keeps it growing, develops and preserves its green spaces, revels in its culture. Drama, dance, music, art, sports, parks---all the noble leisure pursuits of humankind---flourish alongside a stable education and business environment.
   The vision is Fort Worth. The spirit is her people.

Oh. The PAINFUL IRONY.

In this morning's Fort Worth Star-Telegram we learn that "Fences that for years have blocked visitors from downtown's Heritage Park Plaza -- a landmark and site of where the city first began as a military outpost -- could come down in coming years."

We also learn that city officials learned on Tuesday that work to restore the park is expected to ramp up this summer when a study paid for by the Amon G. Carter Foundation gets underway.

Fort Worth's Mayor, Mike Moncrief chimed in with, "This is a major gateway to our city from North Main. I'm heartened by the fact we are continuing to explore options to be able to reopen this venue for those who live here and those who visit. As the Trinity River Vision unfolds, this will be a perfect spot to make memories with the growth of this city."

And then the Star-Telegram's Anna M. Tinsley, wrote, "After this summer's work, if studies show the plaza is safe to reopen, there is still much to be done to open the parkland on even a temporary basis -- such as filling water basins and runnels, creating new entry gates, developing lighting and safety railings, and more."

And...

"But many say these studies are the first step in reviving the area where the original military outpost was built, spawning the creation and naming of Fort Worth. The 112-acre park along the south side of Fort Worth's Trinity River bluffs has served as an urban oasis for decades."

Many say? Many say these studies are a first step? Who are the many? And upon what do they base the idea that studies are a first step?

Now, I am switching into spewing my opinion mode. First off, let's start with the real reason Heritage Park was closed. 4 people drowned in a dangerous pool in the Fort Worth Water Gardens. Fort Worth was sued and paid out a big chunk of money.

Heritage Park also had water features. Much more benign water features than the Water Gardens. But, powers that be, in their infinite wisdom, decided to turn off the Heritage Park water, thus ruining one of the features that made it such a cool attraction.

There are some elevated locations in Heritage Park, catwalks and overlooks high above the ground. Oh no. What if someone fell? We'd be sued again. We must close the park.

Oh oh. We need a reason why we closed the park. We'll just claim there are structural issues and the water pumps wore out. And other safety issues. Like concerns that bad guys my lurk in some dark corner of the park and hurt someone.

But that has never happened in Fort Worth's Heritage Park. However, a murder did take place in Seattle's very similar Freeway Park. Did Seattle close down Freeway Park and surround it with chain link fence? No. Security features like panic buttons and an increased police presence were added.

Fort Worth's Heritage Park is adjacent to a big police operation. How hard would it have been to regularly have a cop walking through that park?

How hard is it to add lighting?

How hard is it to add panic buttons?

And security cameras?

A price tag of around $7 million is being tossed around as the cost to get Heritage Park back.

I think that's nuts. I don't think there is anything structurally wrong with the concrete structures in the park. It is easy to get past the chain link fence and explore around. It looks unkempt and overgrown, but not like it is in a crumbled state of danger of falling.

When I was last in Heritage Park the pump room that powered the water features was lit up. Why?

Pumps need to be replaced every once in awhile. This should be no big deal and no big cost.

In Washington, on Whidbey Island, there is an old fort, now a state park, called Fort Casey. The fort was made of concrete, back in, I think, 1898, or thereabouts. You are allowed to climb all over Fort Casey. There are spots that actually could be dangerous, if one were not careful.

The idea that someone would claim that the relatively new concrete structures of Heritage Park are in fail mode after a few decades seems ridiculous to me.

In my opinion the chain link fences should come down, Heritage Park should be cleaned up and re-opened. Now. Then start to work on getting the water features back running. And make other improvements.

It is not worthy of a city that is the Envy of the Nation, to have such an outstanding eyesore blighting up a prime piece of its downtown real estate.

It is shameful.