COMING SOON

Memorial Park Conservancy plans to deliver first project of its master plan redevelopment next year

Memorial Park Conservancy plans to deliver first project of its master plan redevelopment next year
Photo courtesy of MPC

Memorial Park Conservancy is gearing up to unveil one if its first projects within its 10-year master plan redevelopment.

This article originally appeared on InnovationMap and was written by Natalie Harms.

Memorial Park Conservancy has until 2028 to deliver on its master plan redevelopment project, but if MPC president and CEO Shellye Arnold has anything to say about it, the plan will be completed way ahead of that.

The project is a collaborative effort between MPC, Uptown Houston TIRZ, and Houston Parks and Recreation Department to redevelop the 1,500-acre park. In 2011, a major drought decimated the park and areas saw losses of 50 to even 90 percent of the canopy of trees.

"As tragic as it was, it made people take action," says Arnold.

Following the drought, these organizations looked to the people to see what was needed and wanted by the 3 million visitors and residents of the 170 ZIP codes that frequent the park annually.

"There was a huge outcry to do something," Arnold says. "That something became an effort to define the future of the park in a way that would be powerful, bold, thoughtful, innovative, and very resilient. It would consider Houstonians of the future and Houstonians today. It would consider soils, storm water treatment, the wildlife, and what people want."

When putting the plans in place, MPC and its partners called on 25 of the best ecologists, as well as 50 more park and other types of consultants specializing in everything from insects and wildlife to prairies and trees.

The overall funding plan is a total of $205 million — MPC itself has a capital campaign goal of $50 million — with $32 million to go. A $70 million donation from the Kinder Foundation is the most significant contribution within the fundraising efforts. The foundation approached MPC asking to help contribute to the most transformative project in the master plan, Arnold says, and so they suggested the Eastern Glades, a park within a park and the first project within the master plan to deliver.

MPC expects the Eastern Glades to open next summer — and much of the construction has already been completed. The area will be a 100-acre park within a park with wetlands, a man-made pond, 9 acres of picnic space, and three picnic pavilions.

Eastern Glades

"The full 100-acre Eastern Glades project will provide an amenity that we do not have right now," says Arnold in a release, "a place to put down a blanket and read a book, relax on a park bench, or go for a leisurely walk and just enjoy being outdoors."

In addition to the Eastern Glades, the park will also reopen some relocated ballparks next year.

After next year, the MPC and its master plan partners will deliver a slew of other projects on a rolling basis.

Continue reading on InnovationMap to learn about more projects you can expect in the coming years.

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Rockets defeat the Knicks, 109-97. Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images.

Alperen Sengun had 25 points and 14 rebounds, and the Houston Rockets held on for a 109-97 win over the New York Knicks on Monday night.

Houston led by 15 points early before the Knicks got within one late in the fourth quarter. But Sengun, who was guarded by Karl-Anthony Towns, scored 10 points in the final period to help the Rockets put it away.

Fred VanVleet added 19 points for Houston and Jalen Green had 15.

Jalen Brunson led the Knicks with 29 points and OG Anunoby added 21. Towns had 17 points and a season-high 19 rebounds.

Takeaways

Knicks: New York needs to do a better job of scoring inside with Towns. The Knicks were outscored 62-38 in the paint as their two-game winning streak was snapped.

Rockets: Houston did a good job of getting several players involved offensively. Four starters finished in double figures and Amen Thompson added 12 points off the bench. But they need to find a way to be more consistent throughout games. They squandered a double-digit lead Monday before pulling away late, a game after falling behind by 31 points early before losing to the Warriors in OT Saturday night.

Key moment

The Rockets led by three before a soaring, two-handed dunk by Thompson followed by a 3 from Green made it 105-97 with less than a minute to go.

Key stat

The Rockets won despite making just 8 of 33 3-pointers. Green started out 0 for 6 and was 2 of 8 and VanVleet and Jabari Smith Jr. each made just 1 of 5 attempts.

Up next

The Knicks visit the Hawks on Wednesday night and the Rockets host the Spurs that night.

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