page_title: Fort Worth Water Gardens
hierarchical_section_title: Fort Worth Water Gardens
caption_attribution_description: English: Fort Worth Water Garden
context_page_description: The Fort Worth Water Gardens, built in 1974, is located on the south end of downtown Fort Worth between Houston and Commerce Streets next to the Fort Worth Convention Center. The 4.3 acre Water Gardens were designed by noted New York architects Philip Johnson and John Burgee and were dedicated to the City of Fort Worth by the Amon G. Carter Foundation.
  The urban park is frequently billed as a "cooling oasis in the concrete jungle" of downtown. Its focal points are three pools of water and a terraced knoll, which helps to shield the park from the rest of the City. Interstate 30 was relocated from its former site immediately adjacent to the Water Gardens, making the south end of the park quieter. The park now sits adjacent to Lancaster Avenue, recently landscaped and prepared for redevelopment.
  The quiet, blue meditation pool is encircled with cypress trees and towering walls that are covered in thin plane of water that cascades almost 90 degrees down to the sunken blue water feature. The sound of the water on the walls evokes thoughts of a gentle rain shower. The aerating pool features multiple illuminated spray fountains under a canopy of large oak trees.
context_section_description: The Fort Worth Water Gardens, built in 1974, is located on the south end of downtown Fort Worth between Houston and Commerce Streets next to the Fort Worth Convention Center. The 4.3 acre (1.7 hectare) Water Gardens were designed by noted New York architects Philip Johnson and John Burgee and were dedicated to the City of Fort Worth by the Amon G. Carter Foundation.
  The urban park is frequently billed as a "cooling oasis in the concrete jungle" of downtown. Its focal points are three pools of water and a terraced knoll, which helps to shield the park from the rest of the City.  Interstate 30 was relocated from its former site immediately adjacent to the Water Gardens, making the south end of the park quieter.  The park now sits adjacent to Lancaster Avenue, recently landscaped and prepared for redevelopment.
  The quiet, blue meditation pool is encircled with cypress trees and towering walls that are covered in thin plane of water that cascades almost 90 degrees down to the sunken blue water feature. The sound of the water on the walls evokes thoughts of a gentle rain shower. The aerating pool features multiple illuminated spray fountains under a canopy of large oak trees.
  The main attraction of the Water Gardens is the active pool which has water cascading 38 feet (11 m) down terraces and steps into a small pool at the bottom.  The active pool experience was built for people to be able to walk down the terraced steps to be surrounded by and experience the power, sounds and motion of water crashing around them.
  In March 1991, Larry James Watkins, 43, of Greensboro N.C. was one of two people killed when the light pole toppled about 6 p.m. in gusty winds. Two other people - one from Mississippi, the other from California - were injured.
  Mr. Watkins, an Alamance County native and a graduate of N.C. A&T State University, had been with the IRS since 1970. As a disclosure officer for the IRS's Greensboro district, his job was to make sure that taxpayer information remained confidential.  
  Libby Watson, an assistant Fort Worth city manager, said Friday that investigators had not determined what caused the metal pole to snap at the base and fall. She said, though, that the wind may have contributed. ``I'm afraid it's too early to speculate' on the cause, she said.  A South Carolina man also was killed by the falling pole.
  The pole was one of six at Fort Worth Water Garden, a 4.3-acre multilevel concrete and stone park built in the downtown area in 1975. The park was closed following the accident and the other five light poles will be taken down, Watson said.
  The park was temporarily closed to the public after four people died there on June 16, 2004. Three children and one adult drowned after one of the children fell in the pool. The water was unusually deep due to a recirculating pump malfunction and heavy rains. The park was reopened on March 4, 2007 after being made safer by reducing the depth of the main pool from 9 ft (2.7 m) to 2 ft (0.61 m).
caption: Fort Worth Water Gardens
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