Hermann Park

Hermann Park

Hermann Park
Type Municipal (Houston, Texas)
Location Museum District, Houston
Coordinates 29°43′16″N 95°23′29″W / 29.72111°N 95.39139°W / 29.72111; -95.39139
Area 445 acres (180 ha)
Created 1914
Operated by The Hermann Park Conservancy
Visitors 5.5 million
Status Open All Year
Map of Hermann Park
A view of the reflecting pool and Sam Houston statue in Hermann Park.
The Pioneer Memorial obelisk stands at the end of the Reflecting Pool in Hermann Park. It was erected by the San Jacinto Centennial Association and dedicated on August 30, 1936.

Hermann Park is one of Houston's most-visited public parks. Situated between Fannin Street and Cambridge Street, it is within walking distance from the Texas Medical Center, Rice University, and the Museum District, and within a few miles of the Third Ward, the historic Astrodome and Reliant Stadium (home stadium for the Houston Texans). The land that it occupies was presented to the City of Houston by George H. Hermann in 1914.

This historic 445-acre (180 ha) park space is home to numerous cultural institutions including the Houston Zoo, Houston Garden Center, Miller Outdoor Theatre, Houston Museum of Natural Science, and the Hermann Park Golf Course, which was one of the earliest desegregated public golf courses in the United States in 1954.

History

The Hermann Park Conservancy

Hermann Park was presented to the City of Houston by George Hermann in 1914, and is now Houston's most historically significant public green space. Over the years, the Houston Zoo, Miller Outdoor Theatre, the Houston Museum of Natural Science, and one of the first desegregated public golf courses in the United States all have added to the Park's importance as a recreational destination.

By the late 1980s however, due to insufficient public resources and very high public attendance, the park became rundown and entered a state of disrepair. In response, a group of committed and visionary Houstonians formed the nonprofit organization known as the Friends of Hermann Park (FHP) to encourage the development of more attractive, usable green space in Hermann Park and to promote the restoration of the Park to its originally intended standards of beauty.

Creating the Conservancy, Transforming the Park

In 1993, FHP commissioned a master plan for Hermann Park from Hanna/Olin Partnership of Philadelphia. This Master Plan, created in consultation with the City of Houston and various stakeholders, was adopted in 1997 by Houston City Council. In 1995, Friends of Hermann Park adopted a master plan for Hermann Park that has provided a “blueprint” for all subsequent renovations and enhancements to the Park. In 2004, Friends of Hermann Park changed its name to the Hermann Park Conservancy (HPC) to reflect an institutional and permanent commitment to stewardship of Hermann Park’s natural resources and physical infrastructure.

In an international competition, the Rice Design Alliance invited designers to set the tone and revitalize the main entry and reflecting pool that formed a key axis for Hermann Park, “The Heart of the Park”, and to create a contemporary update to the park's earliest plans by George Kessler and a subsequent, more formal Hare & Hare plan in 1936. SWA Group, an international landscape and urban design firm working in conjunction with W.O. Neuhaus Architects and other consultants, was selected over 100 respondents. The most striking of the changes to the 18-acre (7.3 ha) project area was a narrower, more inviting 80-foot-wide (24 m) by 740-foot-long (230 m) reflection pool. It establishes the formal central axis for the space and its slight narrower design afforded elegant pedestrian promenades as well as a double-row of mature Live Oak trees – one row that had been planted in the 1920s to honor veterans of WW I, and a second row that was added as part of the project. Noted in a winning entry for the 2005 National Award of Excellence from the American Society of Landscape Architects, the “Heart of the Park” reflecting pool utilized a biofiltration system of gravel beds and perforated pipes to trap organics so that they naturally decompose. Porous paving systems and decomposed granite also limit potential damage from increased water run-off from the site.

Ongoing projects

Sam Houston with Warwick Towers in the background
Hermann Park Golf Course

The Hermann Park Conservancy continues working in partnership with the City of Houston to secure funds and manage the design of projects to be undertaken in the Park:

The Conservancy also developed a Maintenance and Operations Master Plan Study for Hermann Park - the first such comprehensive study ever for this flagship park of Houston. The study identified many concerns for preserving and protecting Hermann Park, including a gap of 20,000 maintenance hours for the Park. In response, the Conservancy hired a Manager of Volunteer Programs. In 2004 over 1,200 volunteers provided over 14,000 hours of volunteer service in the park.

Attractions

Mecom fountain at night
Houston Garden Center
Hermann Park Japanese Garden
Marvin Taylor Trail

See also

References

  1. Railway Magazine November 1958 p. 804
  2. History of Department p1 Archived June 24, 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  3. "Hermann Park train moves to new home" (Archive). KHOU-TV. Friday August 26, 2005. Retrieved on December 23, 2015.
  4. JCI Houston - Southern Pacific 982
  5. Hermann Park Conservancy. Hermannpark.org. Retrieved on 2013-09-06.
  6. Hermann Park Conservancy. Hermannpark.org. Retrieved on 2013-09-06.
  7. Golf Houston, Texas - Hermann Park Golf Course - Downtown Houston Golf Course & Banquet Facility. Hermannparkgc.com. Retrieved on 2013-09-06.
  8. Houston Garden Center. Houstontx.gov (2013-08-01). Retrieved on 2013-09-06.

External links

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