Jump to content

Discovery Green Park At 1500 McKinney St.


c4smok

Recommended Posts

Mayor Wants Central Park For Houston

Construction Could Be Finished Within 3 Years

POSTED: 5:33 pm CDT October 19, 2004

UPDATED: 5:43 pm CDT October 19, 2004

HOUSTON -- Houston will have its own version of New York's Central Park, if Mayor Bill White has his way, Local 2 reported Tuesday.

The mayor outlined a proposal to purchase land in front of the George R. Brown Convention Center in downtown Houston and turn it into a 13-acre Central Park.

"Most of the world's major cities have thought ahead and retained green space right in the heart of the city. And the city of Houston is doing the same," White said. "Today is an important day in our efforts to improve the quality of life for all citizens in Houston, Texas."

The mayor said $35 million of donated private money and money earmarked for tourism would pay for the purchase.

"No property taxes will be involved in building this park. We want to keep the green -- the trees, the grass, the natural background, but we're not going to be into amateur park designing at the mayor's office. We're going to get world-class professionals to assist us," White said.

The long-term plan could ultimately include waterfront living along Buffalo Bayou.

If city council approves the proposal, construction could be finished within three years.

Copyright 2004 by Click2Houston.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'll add another point to ricco's excellent post on the advantages of a subway line. The longest a train on the Red Line can be is two cars, due to the length of the downtown blocks. Longer trains would block intersections when the train stops.

However, with a subway line, three car trains can be operated as demand increases.

And of course there's the increased speed between stops in the subway.

As for the flooding issue, let's not forget that much of the existing downtown tunnel system was not flooded during Allison. Yes there were problems, but the majority of the tunnels were not affected. And nobody's screaming "don't build it becuase it will flood!" whenever a downtown developer announces that they are building a new tunnel segment.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I watched the video... From what I could see of the quickly flashed renderings, it looks as if that 1 block west of Crawford was not included in the park after all...

The way KPRC kept comparing this little 13 acre park to NY's magnificent Central Park... that's going a bit overboard isn't it? :P

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When I initially watched the report and looked at it overall, I seriously thought what the big fuss was about. It would be nice to have a park that close to the city where it can be accessed by people just hopping on a bus or walking from their downtown lofts, but to compare it to Central Park in NYC is like calling the neighborhood of montrose into a major metropolitan city.

Ricco

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good column about the park from Ms Sarnoff.

Oct. 30, 2004, 4:51PM

Time will tell if park is really a catalyst

Mayor's plan to add public space downtown draws mixed reviews

By NANCY SARNOFF

Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle

Some folks in Houston are scratching their heads over Mayor Bill White's recent announcement to spend millions of dollars developing an urban park in downtown Houston.

At a conference held earlier this month on downtown development, White revealed his plans for a 13-acre park near the George R. Brown Convention Center, the Toyota Center and Minute Maid Park.

He said the park would trigger an "explosion" of retail and residential projects, strengthening the city's property tax base.

But will a park in front of the convention center really make that happen?

Something magic?

"I don't think there's any magic one thing that we can do," said Leon Davis of Davis Bros., a real estate, oil and gas and venture-capital firm.

It would be smart to look at the people who actually use downtown parks here.

Take Tranquillity Park, or the one in Market Square. Sure, you see people walking through those parks during the course of any day, but they're usually using them as short cuts to get from one place to the next as quickly as possible.

It's often too hot or too

rainy to spend much time in a park that offers little more than green grass, a few benches

and a fountain or two.

And how can the park be kept from becoming a refuge for the homeless?

"You'd have to have the police there making sure people aren't using it as a place to live," said Andrew Segal of Boxer Property, a real estate firm.

More than just grass

Perhaps these reasons explain why the private donors contributing to the new downtown park have hired

the head of one of New York City's most successful parks to be an adviser on the Houston project.

Daniel Biederman, executive director of Bryant Park in the Big Apple, was in town for the mayor's announcement.

He said the key to a successful park is to offer more than public green space.

Bryant Park, for example, draws thousands of visitors each day with chess tables, a reading room, a French-style carousel, 25,000 varieties of flowers, free wireless Internet access and restaurant pavilions.

The park draws not just families, but single folks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I walked the area where the proposed park is supposed to be at, and I'm not entirely sure it's big enough to hold a small festival and/or be able to handle enough trees/variety of terrain to make it interesting.

This is going to sound a bit nerdy, but I would LOVE to have a place where chess players can just setup a board and wait for competition. It can either be in the form of tables/benches or semi-life-sized pieces. (think Mel brooks...I'll leave it at that)

Ricco

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like the comparison of Bryant Park in NYC as it's far more appropriate than Central Park - I too surveyed the area and agree that it's size is limiting the projects scope. However, starting small is a good idea as well. Downtown Houston is not that big. Developing a green pocket which truly functions as a gathering space will be a great accomplishment.

The key is seeing the project through - a task that Houston fails at so often.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Things change.

Five or six years ago, who would build a house east of Taft? or east of Main St.? Or in Midtown? And now those neighborhoods are booming. Freeman's Town in the Fourth Ward has nearly disappeared under Perry homes, and residents of the Third Ward are getting nervous.

As has been seen in Midtown, the time to buy parkland is when the opportunity presents itself. If only the city had bought the Superblock ten years ago!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

It isn't much info, but:

Downtown park gets green light

05:37 PM CST on Wednesday, December 1, 2004

From 11 News Staff Reports

Houston's city council has given a green light to more green space downtown.

The city government will spend $8 million dollars to buy the so-called superblock in front of the George R. Brown Convention Center.

And a new, quasi-government corporation will receive $750,000 taxpayer dollars a year for developing and maintaining that new downtown park.

But some councilmembers criticized the plan questioning its cost and arguing the city first needs to open parks in other neighborhoods.

Hopefully they can maintain the park properly without putting tax payers money to waste.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So now it's a "Super Block"? How cheezy.

This project is a waste of City funds. We could have done much better than this.

A Super Block near the GRB is going to do about as for downtown as Minute Maid Park did.

This "if you build it, they will come" philosophy has to stop. How about developing something where underserved people actually live?

Is that too much to ask?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So now it's a "Super Block"?  How cheezy. 

This project is a waste of City funds.  We could have done much better than this. 

A Super Block near the GRB is going to do about as for downtown as Minute Maid Park did.

This "if you build it, they will come" philosophy has to stop.  How about developing something where underserved people actually live?

Is that too much to ask?

Well, sometimes it does work. They built Bayou Place and Rice Apartments, and the DID come.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Dallas Business Journal

Monday, December 20, 2004

Crescent completes Houston sale

Crescent Real Estate Equities Co. has finalized the sale of 5.3 acres of land to the city of Houston.

The sale, which was disclosed as being under contract on Oct. 19, generated proceeds of about $23 million, Fort Worth-based Crescent (NYSE:CEI) said Monday.

The land is adjacent to the 5.5 acres located in front of downtown's George R. Brown Convention Center that Crescent sold to the city at the end of 2002.

The land allows the city to consolidate its land in order to develop a 13-acre urban park.

Crescent owns and manages a portfolio of more than 70 office buildings totaling more than 29 million square feet primarily in the Southwest.

Web site: www.crescent.com

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It will be at least interesting to watch how the city handles the likely large hobo population once this park is finished, as it is being created, as I see it, at least in part, to be an image enhancer for the city. It could be the prime litmus test for Houston's unofficial hobo policy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...