Houston photo: Buffalo Bayou Park Cistern

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atcbrayne has added a photo to the pool:

Built in 1926, the Cistern at Buffalo Bayou Park was used by the city of Houston as a water reservoir until 2007. The Cistern is able to hold 15 million gallons of water withing its 8-18 inches of concrete walls. There are 221 twenty five foot tall concrete columns in the center. The Cistern was decommissioned by the Houston Water Authority in 2007 when a leak in was found, and deemed too expensive to fix.

The space was turned over to the Buffalo Bayou Park, and they were able to clean and secure the space to open it to the public. You are allowed to visit the Cistern if you purchase a 30 minute tour on their website. But you will need to plan ahead, since opening to the public almost every tour has been a sell out.

The end goal is to turn the Cistern into a art space. The first permanent exhibit is already installed. It is called Down Periscope by Donald Lipski. It allows for people to look into the Cistern from above ground, or even anywhere in the world. You can visit www.Downperiscopehouston.com to control the camera and see the cistern on your own.

One last note, while underground in the cistern listen closely. There is a 17 second echo. Its can make for some very interesting sounds.

Visit the official website at:
buffalobayou.org/visit/destination/the-cistern/

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