The new and improved vision for Fort Worth’s Panther Island is about to be unveiled
The future of Panther Island will get a little bit clearer Tuesday.
HR&A Advisors, a consultant hired by the city of Fort Worth and others in January 2023, will release its final report on how the 338-acre man made island should be developed.
The report will be presented at a 1 p.m. meeting of the Tarrant Regional Water District directly followed by a second presentation at Fort Worth City Council work session at city hall.
The presentation comes more than two decades after the first strategic plans for the island were developed and eight years after the last update to Fort Worth’s Panther Island zoning codes.
The island is a byproduct of the 1.5-mile channel being built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The channel will connect two sections of the Trinity River north of downtown as a way to improve the city’s flood protection.
Congress approved $526 million in 2016, but disagreements with the Trump administration over the project’s feasibility held up funding until the November 2021 passage of Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act enabled the Army Corps to allocate $403 million toward the project in January 2022.
The initial plans for the island’s development focused on dense residential buildings with some commercial spaces. However, a preliminary report from HR&A in August 2023 called for the district to be a mix of residential, entertainment and recreation with the potential to attract companies and talent to the city.
Tuesday’s report will draw both on previous city plans along with public feedback from series of public meetings held September 2023.
It’s expected to address potential impacts to nearby neighborhoods like the north side where residents have expressed concerns about the island’s impact on the area’s unique culture.
HR&A’s August 2023 report said the island should have a distinct culture while at the same time complementing and connecting its surrounding neighborhoods.
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