Neighbors–
As many of you know already, Fort Worth Parks & Rec is hosting a meeting next Thursday 3/10 at 6:30pm at the Botanical Garden's Redbud Hall where they have promised to share details and collect feedback about the design to date for Forest Park Pool (FPP). See the official page here and the Facebook event.
Parks & Rec has refused to post any substantive or background info in advance of the meeting – despite my insistence – because they prefer to "limit circulation of non-final documents." I suppose they prefer a shock and awe approach? So it's up to us to educate ourselves about aquatics in advance...
For what it's worth, I put together a survey to collect concerns and requests in advance of the meeting. If there's anything you think is missing, please let me know.
Fill out the unofficial survey here!
More oversight is clearly needed BEFORE the pool is redone. The budget here has run from $7.5 million to $11 million – a 46% increase – and that's not counting the $900k for design. And we have not been provided any sort of benchmarking, comps, or education on aquatic facilities. Here's a taste of what Austin and Durham have done – I wish I had more for you.
If you have any expertise about evaluating aquatics facility features and budgets, please reach out. Likewise if you have any other info or resources that you think would be helpful in advance of the meeting, please share and I'll add them to the singlelink collection linked below.
When I reached out for more info, Scott Penn, the project manager for Parks and Rec, wrote:
At the initial public meeting (9/16/21) we gathered sufficient input to formulate a rough project scope and proceed into design phase of the project; it is at this upcoming meeting that we intend to finalize aquatic amenities and address any public concerns, in order to proceed to detailed design documentation. The design phase will have another public meeting in May/June 2022 timeframe to present the final documents – this will be more about appearance / access / architectural aesthetic.
Let's note that Parks & Rec didn't publicly post a summary of the 'sufficient input' in September so one wonders what information that was. We can direct you to the Fort Worth Weekly write up to refresh your memory of what happened. And then there's Zavala's report to council to give you a sense of what input P&R actually took away.
The Fort Worth Report and Star Telegram both eagerly reported Beck's announcement that we could expect 8 lanes and 50 meters – and to be sure, kudos to her and Parks and Rec for that – but that was only ONE of the many requests that came up at the meeting. And we can still expect a summer closure – albeit in 2023 rather than this summer – assuming the pump holds up when they re-open.
In any case, here's more background info about the pool here:
https://app.singlelink.co/u/chrisinfairmount
A number of folks including myself will not be able to attend – so if you are able to attend the meeting, please take and share notes!
Thank you,
Chris in Fairmount