Looking in through the locked fence at Heritage Park

I got a call yesterday after 5 from Cityof Fort Worth Communications Officer Veronica Villegas, in response to my calling spree about Heritage Park.

Villegas carefully explained  the thinking behind the closing of the park. She noted that in 2007, Streams and Valleys, an organization associated with the construction and the support of Heritage Park, commissioned a study conducted by Carter Burgess, Inc.  on the safety and repair level of the Park. The issues turned up in the study included the following:

1. The park was built before enactment of  the Americans with Diasabilities Act (ADA), and was not ADA compliant.

2. There were a number of repair items, some related to shifting soil. The “works” of the fountains, the watercourses and piping, were not functioning as designed.

3. There were a number of generalized safety concerns about the park, such as places where water was splashing on flat concrete, creating a slip and fall hazard, steps without handrails, and places where visitors might easily fall into the water.

After the report was given to the City Council, they decided to close Heritage Park for an indefinite period. Funding concerns for repairs were at issue, as were legal liability concerns, especially after the shocking drowning deaths in 2004 of four visitors to the city at the Fort Worth Water gardens on the other side of downtown, and a murder in Heritage Park in 2006.

Non-Profit Preservationists Agitate

But it would not be simple to ignore the situation forever. The Park has strong support from non-profit orgaizations, and has been declared a Marvel of Modernism by the Caltural Landscape Foundation. It was also listed as one of 2009′s Most Endangered Historic Places by Preservation Texas. In response to these designations, along with a story in the Star Telegram, and, one would surmise, phone calls by citizens, the city has unvieled:

An Action Plan on the Heritage Park Closure

Villegas reported that the City is taking action by coordinating with the international award-winning landscape archetect Laurie D. Olin of the Olin Studio. He has worked with original designer Lawrence Halprin in the past and his design ideals are considered compatible. Olin will conduct a 2-3 day workshop with the public in April, 2009; specific dates are still to be determined. The workshop will have as its goal assessing the current conditions in the park, determining what Fort Worthians currently need, and determining the cost of repairs and redesign needed to address the safety concerns raised in the Carter-Burgess report. 

“It will take a lot of money to make the upgrades that will be needed,” Villegas told me. “And the upgrades will impact the design.” Olin will be addressing the cost and scope of needed upgrades, combined with the potential re-mastering of  the original garden plan, which is needed to make the park conform to ADA standards and current safety expectations. Will it be possible to undertake the repairs and pay for them? No one is sure at this time. 

The City, however, has taken a great leap forward in engaging Olin and pledging to open the process of study of the park to the citizenry. I think the City of Fort Worth deserves a hand. Don’t you agree?