FORT WORTH, Texas — Gateway Park in east Fort Worth has been a sewage treatment plant, a landfill and for years its been largely ignored by the city, neighborhood advocates say.
Now, after a year of work, the Fort Worth City Council is preparing to approve a new $170 million master plan to revitalize the park, with the goal of making it a regional destination for trails, sports and recreation. The park is the largest in the city and with 791 acres is larger than 30 state parks.
“We have a great opportunity now to turn what has been impaired into an outstanding asset.” Richard Zavala, head of the Fort Worth Parks and Recreation Department said in a presentation to council.
The new master plan includes an amphitheater, observation desk, destination playgrounds, additional athletic fields, restrooms, tennis and pickleball courts. It also expands the park west across Beach Street, creating more space for sports fields and courts.
Councilmember Jeanette Martinez, who represents Gateway Park, said she hopes that a pool is added to the final plan for Gateway Park. Currently, Fort Worth only has two public pools operated by the city.
Now, the park features a variety of sports fields, trails, and a dog park. Several areas within the park are not currently accessible to visitors. The master plan, and crucially the money behind it, has been a long time coming for Dan Haase, a longtime east Fort Worth resident who said the city has for years failed to recognize the value of Gateway Park.
"I do believe it's time for the city to recognize this is a city-wide park, not an east-side park," Haase said. "That’s only going to happen if the entire city council gets it.”
The last time the park received a master plan update was 2009. The plan laid out equally ambitious goals that mostly went unfulfilled. The plan did establish mountain bike trails and a disc golf course that today is maintained by volunteers. The 2009 plan also officially incorporated the park into the billion-dollar Central City Flood Control Project, also known as Panther Island, which uses part of the park for additional flood storage.
While the plan lays out a clear future for Gateway Park, the uncertainty is in the funding. The city has allocated $8 million through the 2022 bond funding to go toward the parks renovation. The city also has an additional $6.6 million to spend from the Tarrant Regional Water District. The city is already planning to use that money to extend the park west of Beach Street. The remaining funding would have to come from future bond programs.
The money won't come in all at once, Zavala said. The master plan sets the stage for up to 40 years of sustained investment to enable the park to reach its full potential.
Fort Worth City Council is set to vote on officially adopting the plan in June. Then, Parks and Recreation staff are planning on staring design work for the eastern expansion of the park in July 2024 and construction in 2026.
