Bryson Picture Book of Fort Worth Water Gardens

Bryson, Your Guide

Are you all set for an adventure? Today we will be going into Fort Worth to tour the Water Gardens. You will need to stick close to me so that you won’t get lost. I will be your guide. Call me Bryson.

A Cooling Oasis in the Concrete Jungle

We are headed to the south end of downtown Fort Worth. Next to the Fort Worth Convention Center are the 4.3 acres of the Water Gardens, built in 1974. It was designed by New York architects Philip Johnson and John Burgee and was dedicated to the City of Fort Worth by the Amon G. Carter Foundation. Now stay close, Fort Worth can get messy.

Hungry Work

Being a guide in the city is hungry work. After Gerber Bananas this Sirloin Burger Combo from Jack In The Box is my favorite meal. I was planning on showing you the zoo afterwards but there are so many people headed there that the traffic is horrible. Now eat up and we will be on our way.

Fort Worth Water Gardens

This is a good sign, there’s not many people in the park so maybe we’ll be able to dip our feet in the cool water. The people here are my assistants, Jill and Rick. They are also my grandparents visiting from Utah. It’s as well that they are with me or they would really get lost. Grandpa says he checks his GPS but all it does is talk incoherently back to him. Annoying.

The Active Pool

The first of three pools is the active pool that you see here. The water cascades 38 feet down the terraces and steps into the pool at the bottom.

As we roam about the park be sure to notice the over 500 species of plants and trees.

Drownings

The active pool was originally built for people to be able to walk down the terraced steps and experience the water tumbling around them. It was closed to the public after four people died there on June 16, 2004. Two children and one adult tried to save a child that had gone swimming in the pool. All were drowned. The water was unusually deep due to a recirculating pump malfunction and heavy rains.

Step into My Pool

The park was reopened in March 4, 2007 after being made safer by reducing the depth of the main pool from 9 feet to 2 feet. I’ll have my assistant Jill lead the way down the steps. It is quite safe now. There is just enough room to get past those people coming up, especially if you are my size.

The Pool

This is a pretty sight as all the water flows into the pool. Did you know that part of the film Logan’s Run was filmed here in the active pool in 1976? The pool is also featured briefly at the end of the 1979 television adaptation of The Lathe of Heaven. Before my time of course.

The Vents

Here is a close up of one of the vents that discharges water into the pool. I’m tempted to cool my feet but we need to move on.

By the way the coordinates at the Water Gardens are 32°44′52″ North 97°19′36″ West.

Photographs

This is a great place to take photographs. The cascading water makes a great backdrop. I like how there is enough moving water to give a great effect but not too much spray that moisture gets in my camera. For this photograph of yours truly I had my Mom lift me up.

The Quiet Pool

Here you will experience the sensations of growing bigger and smaller. I can only grow bigger. The small stairway leading to the pool will make you feel bigger than your surroundings. After entering the pool area, you will suddenly feel smaller; any objects of human scale have been removed, giving you the feeling that you have suddenly entered a giant’s house.

The Trough

This trough that my feet are in is 650 feet long and releases 450 gallons of water a minute down the 22 foot high wall and into a moat at the bottom.

If you are going to put your feet in the trough I recommend that you have your mother hold you.

The Aerated Pool

The pool is a visual illusion, giving you the impression that you can walk across the pool on tiles made of spraying water. I don’t recommend that you try it. The nozzles spray at the same height as the walkway, without spraying you, so that the water collapses on itself, looking ultimately like panels. The pool is 40 feet below ground with 40 nozzles spraying 871 gallons of water per minute.

The Mountain

The mountain is designed to give you the sense of the real thing. Its twenty inch steps cascade into one another, creating the sensation of mountainous topography. The mountain rises twenty feet off the ground.

Now listen up, if you fall off of this mountain it will feel like the real thing.

High On The Mountain Top

At the top you can wave to all the world. That’s my grandma looking up at us.

You know it is interesting that the mountain is 20 feet high using 20 inch steps. The aerated pool is 40 feet below ground level and has 40 nozzles. I’m 5 months old and it’s been 5 hours since I last ate. Let’s move!

The Stage

Sit down for a few minutes on the grass. Good. I have been pleased to be your guide today around this interesting park where 19,000 gallons of water flow every minute through 10 miles of pipe and flows past seven miles of retaining walls. Now that you have your feet wet you can go exploring Texas by yourself. And remember — If it’s big, It came from Texas!