Panther Island takes another step closer to reality with $4.5 million flood gate contract
The completion of Panther Island is still a ways off, but the design process for its three flood gates is open.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced Thursday that it has awarded a $4.5 million contract to Kansas City-based architecture engineering firm Black and Veatch to design the flood gates along and a pump station as part of the Central City Flood Control Project.
The project aims bolster Fort Worth’s flood protection by replacing the city’s 1960’s era Trinity River levee system with a bypass channel north of downtown.
Design for the north and south sections of the bypass channel are underway. Design of the floodgates and pump station are the last pieces needed for the operational functions of the channel, according to an agency press release.
The $4.5 million contract comes from the $20 million awarded by the Army Corps in early 2023 as part of the agency’s annual work plan. The project has received $423 million since 2022 after years of lack luster federal funding.
The total project is expected to cost $1.17 billion with roughly half the money coming from the federal government.
Design of the gates and pump station is scheduled to wrap up in early 2026 with construction slated to begin in early 2029, according to the latest project update from the Tarrant Regional Water District.
Construction of the channels is scheduled to begin in early 2025 with the south bypass channel scheduled to be completed in mid-2029, according to the same project update.
The last component of the project is a dam just south of the Samuels Avenue Bridge. It is scheduled to be completed in 2032.
The channel will also create a roughly 800-acre man-made island, which the city of Fort Worth anticipates could house homes, shops and entertainment venues. The city hired a consultant in January 2023 to engage the public and flesh out its plan for the island.
Some development has already gotten under way with Fort Worth-based Tiller Partners planning a $120 million mixed-use project on the west side of the island near the intersection of North Throckmorton Street and Northwest Fifth Street.
Dallas-based Centergy Retail petitioned the city in July 2023 to waive certain requirements needed to build a residential tower across from the island in the Left Bank development on West Seventh Street. However, Centergy President West Miller said in an email to the Star-Telegram that his company plans to sell the 1.8 acre property.
This story was originally published February 8, 2024 at 4:18 PM.
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