Positioned on the site of Fort Worth’s founding, Lawrence Halprin’s Heritage Park Plaza opened in 1980 as part of a larger vision to connect downtown Fort Worth to the Trinity River. Halprin’s conceptual drawings included a series of connections from Heritage Park Plaza to the river. That vision of connections was never constructed, and in 2007 the park was closed due to unsafe conditions.

With the intention of restoring and reopening the park, The City of Fort Worth and Downtown Fort Worth Inc contracted Studio Outside and Bennett Benner Partners, to lead the restoration project. While researching the site and developing a restoration plan, the team realized that a restoration would not be sufficient if changes were not also made beyond the walls of the plaza. The Heritage Park Plaza Masterplan proposes bold connections to Downtown Fort Worth and the Trinity River. These connections will re-situate the park within the city and bring life back to Lawrence Halprin’s modernist park. By creating an active space around Heritage Park Plaza, restorations efforts can closely reflect Halprin’s original intention for Heritage Park Plaza: a place open to all to move through spaces that encourage quiet reflection, and respite from the thriving city that surrounds it