Memorial Park's $42 million project will spotlight Camp Logan's history
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Memorial Groves. Rendering: Courtesy of Nelson Byrd Woltz
Memorial Park will pay homage to its namesake and its World War I roots as part of a $42 million project.
Why it matters: Houston's largest urban green space was previously the site of Camp Logan, a U.S. Army training facility during WWI where more than 70,000 soldiers trained between 1917 and 1919.
- Now, the park will have a new feature called Memorial Groves, designed to serve as a "living remembrance" for visitors.
The big picture: Memorial Groves will reimagine 100 acres between West Memorial Loop Drive and the Union Pacific rail line.
- The centerpiece of the park will be a forest of more than 2,000 bald cypress trees planted in a grid around existing mature trees. Covering 20 acres along West Memorial Loop Drive, the trees will be meant to symbolize soldiers standing in formation.
What they're saying: "Many of our daily park visitors may not be aware of Memorial Park's rich history," Chris Ballard, the president and CEO of the conservancy, said in the announcement.
- "We hope that's exactly what Memorial Groves will accomplish: to tell the story of Memorial Park, how it came to be, and why it's crucial to preserve and protect into its second century."
The project, part of the 2015 Memorial Park master plan, is expected to be completed in 2027, with construction beginning next year.
- Other parts of the master plan, such as the Clay Family Eastern Glades and the Kinder Land Bridges, have already been completed.
The intrigue: The Grove area holds the largest number of Camp Logan archeological finds within the park, enabling the conservancy and its partners to preserve and interpret the training sites.
- The area will also have an exhibition in the visitor center that will examine the segregation that the Black troops faced at the camp and in Houston.
- Beyond commemoration, the area will also feature a playground, adult fitness zones, hiking, biking and walking trails, open lawns for play and picnicking, a covered pavilion, new restrooms and parking that's currently planned to be free.
The bottom line: "The Memorial Groves project fulfills the vision of the park's founders, who, a century ago, preserved 1,200 acres of Camp Logan as a living memorial to the soldiers who trained there," said Thomas Woltz, the owner of Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects, which has worked with the conservancy on several projects.