This multiparty collaboration began several years ago, but broke ground in 2011. The ten year plan will lay the infrastructure for a new mixed use neighborhood that will have retail, residential and recreation with the idea that people can live, work and play all without leaving the neighborhood.
The central feature of the development will be a 1.5 mile long bypass to the river, creating an "island" where much of the new development will take place.
Here is model of the site when completed: The river along the left side of the center island will be constructed when the bridges are complete.
When the project is complete, private partners can com in and build along the river, internal lake and central canals. This project will generate an estimated 16,000 jobs, 10,000 new housing units, and raise the tax base from a current $129M to over $1.3B. The Fort Worth ISD will see increased revenue from a current $16.1M to $467M.
Because the Trinity River has been surrounded by wide and high levies to control flooding, development around the river has been impossible in the past. The engineers are designing ways to do this in this project. To make sure the design worked, engineers built a 1:40 scale model the size of a football field. This allows them to test hydrodynamics through the river channel and around the new bridges. The cost of the model was $1.4 million but is estimated to save $10 to $15 million dollars over time. Here is a video documentary about the model:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=uL7F1QkEVdA
Already, a great deal of economic activity has already taken place, including a new drive-in movie theater, a wake park, and the Panther Island Pavilion, an outdoor stage on the river (the only one of it's kind).
Here are some other pics of the project plan:
http://pantherislandpavilion.com/
http://www.cowtownwakepark.com/
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