As the city of Fort Worth grows, its parks have to grow with it, said Dave Lewis, the city’s newly named parks and recreation department director.
With a new master plan soon to be adopted, city staff have laid out the blueprint for enhancing the city’s parks system, with a focus on fostering accessibility and connections to green space throughout Fort Worth.
Marking a first for Fort Worth leaders, City Council members and the parks and recreation advisory board held a joint meeting May 6 where parks staff presented GREENprint, the city’s parks and recreation master plan.
An update from the parks’ 2020 master plan, the new plan comes in response to rapid development taking place throughout Fort Worth, said Joel McElhany, assistant parks director in charge of planning.
“There are needs for parks throughout various areas in Fort Worth,” said McElhany.
In annual rankings by national nonprofit organization Trust for Public Land, Fort Worth’s park system ranked 91st out of the 100 largest U.S. cities. The nonprofit scores parks systems on factors such as acreage, access, investment, amenities and equity.
Fort Worth received its lowest score on amenities, coming in below average for availability of permanent restrooms, splash pads, dog parks, basketball hoops, playgrounds and senior and recreational centers. The city spends $91 per capita on publicly accessible parks and recreation, a below-average investment compared with other major cities.
The master plan lays out strategies for linking parks to trails and other public open spaces, creating a system that connects all regions of the city to each other.
It recommends creating or designating parks as central destinations in each district or major region of the city. These parks would serve as “signature parks,” said McElhany, and would represent the character of those regions.
The plan also outlines the prospect of nontraditional parks, what McElhany described as streetscapes with “green” connections, such as shaded walkways with seating that would also serve to connect developed areas to green spaces.
Through the master plan, parks staff are also looking to partner with property owners to incorporate green spaces into future development. McElhany pointed to the Clearfork Trailhead in southwest Fort Worth and Sundance Square in downtown as some developed areas in Fort Worth that can contribute to parks and green space in public areas.
The plan outlines the strategy to have natural areas serve as connections between parks such as the Fort Worth Nature Center & Refuge in northwest Tarrant County and the Tandy Hills Natural Area on the eastside to encourage environmental stewardship of prairies and native habitat.
Another major recommendation highlighted in the plan is creating a central common ground or signature parks in downtown Fort Worth, just off the Trinity River. This recommendation echoes some of the planning that’s already taking place between parks staff and the Tarrant Regional Water District, said McElhany. The strategy would connect residents and development in downtown Fort Worth to the river and the future Panther Island.
Signature parks are also mentioned in the strategic plan for Panther Island, unveiled last year by the Dallas-based consultant HR&A Advisors. The plan lays the foundation for implementing publicly accessible green spaces, public transit investment and pedestrian walkways for the 300 acres that make up the island.
City staff are now calling for more partnerships between the parks department, city staff and the water district on parks and open space accessibility.
“We need to align this plan with other planning efforts,” said McElhany, citing the city’s upcoming 2050 comprehensive plan and the water district’s Trinity River and recreation master plans.
Mayor Mattie Parker’s green space initiative, Good Natured, is assisting the parks department in its mission to conserve and foster green space in Fort Worth, said Lewis.
The Good Natured initiative was established in 2023 to accelerate the city’s open space conservation efforts by setting a goal of acquiring 10,000 acres of green space by 2028.
One of Good Natured’s strategies for conserving open space involves developing a citywide ordinance that designates preserved or recreational land. While still a work in progress, the city’s riparian-area ordinance would apply a buffer zone to rivers and lakes to minimize detrimental effects brought on by development, in turn, creating more opportunities for a connected trail system, said Allison Docker, the city’s green space champion tasked with overseeing open space initiatives.
Stewarding green spaces through parks trails and streetscapes is where Parker’s initiative can help the parks master plan.
“Put simply, this initiative is the advocacy for investing in our land, our water and the communities that depend on it,” said Docker.
Council members closed out the meeting with calls for restoring and tending to parks and underserved areas in Fort Worth. Mosier Valley Park in far east Fort Worth is a prime example of what needs more attention, said City Council member Gyna Bivens.
Residents in Mosier Valley — which holds the distinction of being the first freedmen’s town, or community established by formerly enslaved people, in Texas — have waited more than a decade for park plans to come to fruition, according to previous Fort Worth Report coverage. The city has budgeted more than $900,000 to build amenities in the park.
Parks staff will focus on engaging more with local officials and philanthropists to ensure funds are going toward parks in need, said Lewis.
In her time working with private entities to fundraise for the Good Natured initiative, Parker has seen the appetite from philanthropists to fund projects that have a set vision for development and strategy. Parker emphasized the need for funds from the private sector to funnel into the goals outlined by the parks master plan.
“That is a great example of something that I’ve enjoyed working on here locally, that we’ll continue to do with Good Natured,” said Parker.
The master plan is expected to go before City Council members for final approval May 13.
Nicole Lopez is the environment reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at [email protected].
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