With its future funding in question, Fort Worth’s unfinished “Panther Island” project will now get an extensive study on how to move forward.
The board of directors for the Trinity River Vision Authority, which oversees the project, approved the scope of the review, first requested by Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price.
The plan is to hire a national consulting firm to assess the work, including Panther Island’s current management team, and the chances of getting additional federal funding.
The project still needs more than $400 million from the federal government to put in a bypass of the Trinity River for flood control, setting the stage for a waterfront development.
But federal funding has stalled, with critics saying the project is more about creating an entertainment district than it is about flood prevention.
“We want not only a review, but we want recommendations. And it’s our intent to follow those recommendations,” said G.K. Maenius, Tarrant County’s chief administrator who chairs the TRVA board.
The consulting firm is expected to be selected in January, and the review completed by the middle of next year.
