Trinity River Vision Authority
Current civic leaders are far from the first to look across the Trinity River and dream very big dreams.
Amon Carter’s crown jewel of dreams was the canalization of the river from the Texas Gulf Coast to Fort Worth. There would be a day, he confidently envisioned, when ocean liners would dock in the city’s front yard at “Port Fort Worth.”
Carter and his humorist and close friend Will Rogers, undoubtedly staying at his 10G suite in the Fort Worth Club, drove to a spot on the river to talk vision. The account was relayed by author and time-honored Fort Worth Star-Telegram writer Jerry Flemmons in his book Amon.
The men walked around the bank, Carter showing Will where the Trinity bent around Fort Worth and explaining the canal idea in exciting detail.
Will, Flemmons wrote, listened in a silence that Amon could no longer stand.
“Well, what do you think?” Amon said.
Will, according to the account, looked at Carter, looked at the river, and then turned his eyes to the sky.
“I can see the seagulls now,” a lukewarm Will deadpanned.
Will later wrote in a newspaper column about the idea: Fort Worth has “had droughts, floods, boll weevils, cattle fever, ticks, and was struck by two visits of Jim Ferguson, but they have never tasted seawater. It’s the only thing they haven’t tasted in a bottle.”
In the 1930s, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers conducted a survey of the river to determine the feasibility of canalization and flood control.
Indeed, it was studied, written about ad infinitum, and federal funding proposed. In fact, in anticipation of canalization, some highway bridges over the river were built high enough to accommodate canal traffic.
Carter never gave up on his vision, taking it to his grave in 1955. His son, Amon Carter Jr., took it up. It wasn’t until 1977, some 50 years after its genesis, that the music finally died on canalizing the La Santisima Trinidad — the Most Holy Trinity, as Spaniard Alonso de Leon called it.
This generation’s vision, Trinity River Vision — also known as the Panther Island Project and derisively by critics as the “Boondoggle” — has received an updated look, Panther Island, Vision 2.0.
Partner agencies on Panther Island include, in addition to the city, Tarrant Regional Water District, Tarrant County, Tarrant County College, Real Estate Council of Greater Fort Worth, Downtown Fort Worth Inc., and Streams & Valleys Inc.
On Tuesday, national real estate and economic development analyst HR&A Advisors briefed the Fort Worth City Council on its key findings as a consultant to the project.
“Panther Island is a generational development to create economic and recreational opportunities for Fort Worth communities and support continued growth as the city welcomes new businesses, residents and visitors,” said Aaron Abelson, HR&A managing partner for Texas. “Panther Island’s size, proximity to downtown, and the abundance of public land create a rare opportunity for government and private investment to work in tandem.”
The final reports, whose conclusions include work from architecture firm Lake Flato, provide a roadmap for future decision-making, lay the groundwork for a market-responsive and well-planned waterfront district, and foster sustainable development in the city’s core.
Among other recommendations are a phased implementation strategy for near- and long-term development, as well as an emphasis on adding to a connected open-space network featuring continuous waterfront access. The consultants also recommended a development that encourages a seamless connectivity to adjacent neighborhoods, such as West Seventh.
“We are excited to receive the recommendations of HR&A that are informed by vital input from the community,” said Tarrant Regional Water District Board President Leah King. “We look forward to further evaluating the HR&A recommendations and designing the right path forward that ensures Panther Island reaches its full potential for the benefit of Fort Worth, Tarrant County and all of North Texas.”
Over the past year, HR&A engaged and sought input from numerous local stakeholders, including landowners, community members from surrounding neighborhoods, real estate and civic organizations and others. The guiding principles for the updated vision are grounded in the valuable feedback provided by the community, according to HR&A, were the following:
- One-of-a-kind waterfront district nestled in the Trinity River
- Haven of diverse parks, green spaces, and experiences around every corner
- Mixed-use neighborhood designed to build community
- Destination connecting and complementing vibrant surrounding neighborhoods
- Celebration of Fort Worth’s diverse communities and heritage
- Economic driver sustaining the rapid growth of Fort Worth
“When we talk about the future of development in Fort Worth, citywide and on Panther Island, it is vital to have stakeholder and community voices at the table guiding that direction,” Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker said. “I appreciate the leadership from our partner agencies and the feedback from residents and business owners throughout this process to work collaboratively to build out plans that reflect the future of Fort Worth."
Much has changed since the original plan was approved by the City Council in 2004, including the city becoming the fastest-growing large city in the country.
The very first true believe was U.S. Rep. Kay Granger (R-Fort Worth). Since the very first day the Tarrant Regional Water District began working with Streams and Valleys and the Army Corps of Engineers on the master plan to make better use of the river and preserve natural areas, while ensuring flood control, Granger has been a believer in the possibilities.
Congressionally authorized studies determined that modifications were needed to mitigate flood risks. Those included an approximate 8,400-foot bypass channel, three isolation gates, a low-water dam, and valley storage mitigation sites (Gateway Park, Ham Branch, Riverside Park, Rockwood Park West, Samuels Avenue and University Drive) to provide flood risk management along the Clear Fork and West Fork of the Trinity River.
Once completed, the Trinity River Vision would provide flood protection and recreation for more than 3,000 acres in Tarrant County.
The 1.5-mile redirection would open up a former flood plain to development, some 200 acres just north of the courthouse.
It’s also a project that has caused advocates torment.
It has been one problem after another, starting with securing the necessary federal funding, from Washington politics with congressional colleagues, the loss of earmarks, and the Trump administration, to the change in how the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers evaluate projects after Hurricane Katrina.
There were, of course, the critics at home. As the price of the project grew, political watchdogs — both real and the armchair variety — grew.
In 2022, at last, Granger, then the Republican leader on the House Appropriations Committee (today, she is the chair), and Fort Worth Democrat Marc Veasey, secured the long-awaited infusion of federal money that will allow for the completion of the final design of all project components and construction of the bypass channel.
It was $403 million in total, appropriated as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of 2022. The Corps received $20 million more later in the year.
Granger announced last year that she would not seek another term, and as she begins her final year in office, she says she feels good where the project stands.
“Yes,” she says, “but it should have not been this hard. This project was important, and we did so much good work on it.”
Only to see the floor fall through.
The Trinity River Vision, unlike and slightly less ambitious than Amon Carter’s, will be completed.
The full realization of the development remains years away.
HR&A has previously worked on similar districts and waterfront projects throughout the country, such as the Anacostia River waterfront revitalization in Washington, D.C., Buffalo Bayou in Houston, the Ion Innovation District near Rice University, Broadway Station in Denver, Klyde Warren Park in Dallas, and the master plan for the University of Texas’ research campus.
The firm called Panther Island “crucial to the region’s economic development. The scale and location can help capture and fuel long-term residential and employment growth.”
As such, it recommended moving its original development aspirations from dense residential with some commercial to mixed-use with an entertainment hub and outdoor recreation to attract companies and talent to the city — a place to work, live, and play.
Also last year, LanCarte Commercial Real Estate said that it had brokered the sale of 26 acres of privately owned land on Panther Island. The sale represented the largest single capital investment for land from the private sector.
It wouldn’t be Panther Island without a hangup, however. Late last year, we learned of one.
City officials said that it was behind in rerouting utilities out of the path of the Army Corps’ planned bypass channels. There are 14 stormwater, sewer, and water utilities that must be relocated, assistant city manager Dana Burghdoff told a meeting of the Trinity River Vision Authority board in December.
The work must be done in the north bypass channel by this summer and by the fall in the south bypass channel if it is to stay on the Corps’ schedule.
Burghdoff also said the city has encountered problems working with Fort Worth & Western Railroad. The city needs to amend an agreement so contractors moving utilities can work underneath the railroad’s right-of-way.
The city said last year that it expected the total cost for the relocations to be between $53.8 million and $60.5 million. The city is obligated to pay the upfront costs, but the Tarrant Regional Water District will take care of the final bill using $250 million in flood control bonds approved by voters in 2018.
The delay, Burghdoff estimates, would be a few months.
Nonetheless, the Trinity River Vision is finally coming together.
“The pieces are really coming together for Panther Island,” Robert Sturns, economic development director for the city of Fort Worth, said last year. “Local partners and the business community are making a strong economic development push at the district, but we want to be smart about how we do it.”
He who laughs last, laughs best. So, we’ve been told anyway.
And when Fort Worth’s ambitious, albeit highly scrutinized, Trinity River Vision is fully realized, the city will have the knowledge of security from flood waters and a pearl on its Trinity River.