Houston's Wonder
Speaking of the wonders of Houston, three cheers for Memorial Park. It is a wonder that this beloved and most valuable tract of land in the geographical heart of the city has remained untouched and intact as parkland for all Houstonians to enjoy for over 80 years. In 1975, several of us (including Terry Hershey, Frank Smith and now deceased Jack Staub) were asked by Miss Ima Hogg to protect Memorial Park. Miss Hogg was getting on in years and needed "eyes and ears" to help keep special interests at bay and away from usurping the park. From a fish hatchery to University of Houston to slant drilling, the Memorial Park Advisory Committee, as we became known, fended off hundreds of "good ideas" for the land. The Memorial Park Advisory Committee became Memorial Park Conservancy, a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization, in 2000 and with assistance from the Houston Parks Board and Houston Parks and Recreation Department, raised the money to develop a Master Plan for the park. In 2004, the Houston City Council voted in favor of this plan and we continue to assist the parks department in their efforts toward improvements to this day. We remain vigilant in our efforts to retain this precious natural resource for sports enthusiasts and wilderness lovers of future generations, but dollars are needed to supplement the work.
The wonder of it is why has it taken so long for us to appreciate so great a gift?
Sincerely,
Sadie Gwin Blackburn
MPC Movie Night Unforeseen Success
Thanks to all who joined us for the Houston premiere of The Unforeseen at The Aurora Theatre, on Saturday, July 7. RealFilms broke attendance records for this screening, even turning away a good number when we were at standing room only. Austin filmmaker Laura Dunn answered questions from the audience about her lyrical examination of development versus nature. Special thanks to Jeff and Barbara Mills and the board of RealFilms for helping this happen!RealFilms website http://www.realfilms.org
Sundance: http://www.cinematical.com/2007/01/29/sundance-review-the-unforeseen/
Co-sponsored by: Filmmaker Laura Dunn and Jeff Mills, Documentary Alliance, draw the doorprize winner
Memorial Park Conservancy, Inc.
Houston Sierra Club
Bridging the Park
Rice Design Alliance Partners 2007 Charrette
Presented in collaboration with MPC and Houston Parks & Recreation Department
WHEN: Saturday, August 4, 2007
8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
6:00 - 8:00 p.m. Reception
WHERE: Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture
University of Houston
Second Floor
Entrance 18, Elgin Street
On a misty Saturday, July 14, precisely at 2 p.m., well over 60 professional and student architects and engineers met at the Houston Arboretum & Nature Center in Memorial Park to study bridge design. In collaboration with the Rice Design Alliance and the City of Houston Parks and Recreation Department, participants will be challenged to propose a design to unite the north and south parts of Memorial Park, Houston's largest urban park, via a pedestrian bridge. Participants are asked to design a bridge that will serve as a landmark for the city and connect an existing bike path along Memorial Drive. The bridge will provide a measure of safety for pedestrians crossing the park, and shift pedestrian raffic away from ecologically sensitive areas. In addition to the disjointed trail system, mobility and parking are major issues during peak times; weekday evenings and weekends. Parking facilities located south of Memorial Drive are under-utilized primarily due to inaccessibility and users having to cross Memorial Drive at grde to access park facilities on the north side. At grade crossings create safety concerns for pedestrians particularly along Memorial Drive due to travel speeds and site distance at the west entrance where Memorial Drive and Woodway merge traveling eastbound.
Christof Spieler, Matrix Structural Engineers, Inc., gave a world overview of bridge design and Memorial Park Conservancy President Steve Costello presented the quest for a pedestrian/bicycle bridge that is to span Memorial Drive in the near future. Questions relating to maintaining the exact location and need to keep the design cost-effective arose. The Rice Design Alliance Partners Committee eliminated strictures and opted to allow as much creativity as possible into the process. The competition is scheduled for Saturday, August 4, 8a.m. - 4 p.m. at the University of Houston School of Architecture, Cullen Blvd. (Jury members are not required to attend the Charrette itself.) Following the actual Charrette, the jury will meet on Monday, August 6th around lunch time to judge the resulting designs. That evening from 6 pm to 8 pm, a public Jury Reception will announce the "winners" and discuss the results of the competition. All interested are welcome.
Please contact Kathryn Fosdick if you or your firm are interested in designing the Memorial Drive Pedestrian/Bicycle Bridge. For more information please call (713) 348-4876.
Save-the-Date - October 17
Memorial Park Conservancy will celebrate the present by honoring the memory of Miss Ima Hogg, Life Members Terry Hershey, Sadie Gwin Blackburn, Frank Smith and Claire Caudill, on Wednesday, October 17, 2007, 7:00 p.m. The event will be held at the River Oaks Country Club; cocktails and dinner will be served. Gaye Lovett Davis and John Wilson Kelsey, Kate and Steve Gibson will co-chair the event.
Tables are available for $20,000 (Benefactor), $10,000 (Sponsor), and $5,000 (Patron). Individual tickets are $500 per person. Funds raised by the Gala will benefit the ongoing programs and enhancement efforts of Memorial Park Conservancy in cooperation with Houston Parks & Recreation Department.
Memorial Park Conservancy’s mission is to protect, preserve and enhance Memorial Park in accordance with the wishes of the donor, Ima Hogg. This 1503-acre park is located in central Houston and is among the largest urban parks in the city. For more information, please contact Sally Tyler, 713-863-8403 or www.memorialparkconservancy.org.
A Word from a Memorial Park Neighbor
"As a regular user of the Park and a member of the Crestwood Architecture Committee, I'm very pleased to see the new fence on Crestwood. Maybe it will help prevent the development of veritable "mud-holes" where people park in the Park. That space along the Park is regularly abused by heavy trucks and equipment of construction crews and even residents. It makes for a mess if you try to walk along the edge of the Park and is definitely unsightly.
Maybe it will cut down on the regular dumping of yard trash too. Branches, grass clippings, leaves and other debris are being dumped along Crestwood just inside the brush-line by yard crews serving homes along Crestwood.
It might also reduce the number of City vehicles cutting through the pathway at the end of Blossom. They have made that pathway so rutted and muddy that it is almost unusable for pedestrians. My thanks to the Conservancy and the Houston Parks and Recreation Department."
If you have an interesting story or memory of Memorial Park, please e-mail us at styler@memorialparkconservancy.org.
Houston’s 15th Annual Sun & Ski Sports Criterium Race Series*
WHEN: Wed., July 25 - Two Races Every Wed. this Summer -- Rain or Shine - for 12 weeks.
Registration - 5 p.m.
First Race - 5:50 p.m. - Newcomers and first-time racers welcomed (those who may have group ride experience, but have never raced).
Average 26 m.p.h.
Second Race - 6:50 p.m. - Stronger riders. Average 27-28 m.p.h.
WHERE: Memorial Park - Picnic Loop - laps around 1.1-mile circle
WHO: Approximately 100-120 cyclists, men and women, race weekly. They include out-of-towners who specifically come to Houston to race, as well as business travelers who are avid cyclists who travel with their bicycles.
A criterium, the most common type of bike racing in the continental U.S., is held on a short course (usually less than 5K) and often run on closed-off city center streets. Its length may be determined by number of laps (in this case, 10) or total time. Generally, the Crits' duration (commonly one hour) is shorter than that of a traditional road race, i.e. the Tour de France, though the average speed and intensity are appreciably higher. The event has five places in each race and prizes are awarded. The race is sanctioned by the United States Cycling Federation. Hans Schneider of Huntsvill is the Houston Criterium founder and multiple award-winning cyclist who raced for years in Europe, Mexico and the U.S. welcomes all cyclists!
MPC BOARD OFFICER REGINA GARCIA WINS NATIONAL AWARD
Bike Barn's Neil Bremner and Regina Garcia
The League of American Bicyclists presented Houston’s Regina Garcia with its 2007 National Education Award. The award recognizes individuals whose efforts have have resulted significant achievements in the education of cyclists or motorists regarding cyclists’ rights at a state, regional, or national level. Garcia is an instructor with the League of American Bicyclists, Chairperson of the H-GAC Pedestrian-Bicyclist Subcommittee, member of the H-GAC Technical AdvisoryCommittee, founding board member of Bike Houston, member of the City of Houston Pedestrian Bicyclist Advisory Committee, board member of the Memorial Park Conservancy, and overall bicyclist safety expert for all ages and levels of experience. She and her husband own and operate El Meson restaurant in the Rice Village and she is the team captain for the El Meson/Cycles Gladiator MS150 Bike Team.
Sunday Fitness at Memorial Park
Memorial Park Fitness Center is a great place to get fit. The center is equipped with weights and cardiovascular equipment for your fitness needs.
You can work out and get fit right in the middle of Memorial Park, 6402 Arnot. Fee required.
Day and Time: Sundays, 8 a.m. - noon
Fees: Monthly membership $20.00
Daily membership $1.75
Shower rental $.75
Towel rental $.50
Locker rental $.50
What's New?
Memorial Park Golf Course sports a new architect Robert McIlhenny
designed shadecloth structure that helps golfers beat the heat! Come try it out!
Park Points
- Memorial Park is among the largest urban parks in Texas
- 55th largest city park in U.S. (larger than New York’s Central Park)*
- Comprises 7% of Houston’s total park land (1,503 of 24,943 acres)
- Valued at $1 billion
- Approx. 4,000,000 people use Memorial Park annually
- Approx. 10,000 runners use the Seymour-Leiberman Exer-Trail daily
- Approx. 64,000 rounds of golf played annually
- Approx. 42,000 rounds of tennis played annually
- Approx. 30 miles of trails
- Road bike training loop and mountain bike tails
- Fitness center with a 33-meter lap pool
- Recreational sports fields including: 4 sand volleyball courts, 3 softball fields, 2 baseball diamonds, 2 rugby/soccer fields and 1 croquet court
- Five playgrounds, including the Vale-Asche Foundation Playground
- Memorial Park was established as a city park in 1925; its 1,503 acres were deeded at cost to City of Houston in May, 1924, by Mike & Will Hogg, sons of James Stephen Hogg, former governor of Texas (1891-95), native of Rusk, Texas
- Golf course established in 1934 for $184K; COH paid $29K and the Texas Relief Commission paid the balance; renovated in 1995 for $5M
- Houston Arboretum & Nature Center established in 1967
- Seymour Lieberman Exer-Trail established 1978-1981
- In 2000, the enlarged Memorial Park Advisory Committee became Memorial Park Conservancy, a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit including numerous representative park users and "green" agencies
- Houston’s City Council in 2004 approved the 25 Year Master Plan (Wallace, Roberts & Todd), Philadelphia, PA, which includes among many other improvements:
-Relocation of Forestry Complex
-Re-location of HPD Mounted Patrol Complex
-Pedestrian/Bicycle Bridge over Memorial Drive
-Trail maps and improved user signage
-Renovation of Greenhouses
-New and enhanced trails; low maintenance surfacing
-Canoe/Kayak Launch to replace old archery range on northwest corner of Loop 610 and Woodway
*Trust for Public Land’s 100 Largest City Parks, 2007
A note from the archives....
Thank you for your support of Memorial Park!
