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 The West 11th street Park—ENDANGERED???



A pocket wilderness in the heart of Houston!



Background Information



 
 SAVE THE PARK!
 The West 11th Street Urban Forest is endangered.....
              An important piece of “greenspace” within Central Houston is 
likely to disappear if
 enough money cannot be raised to by Dec. 31st 2006 to save it.
              The property is a 4 square block, approximate 21 acre urban 
forest, known as W. 11th
 Street Park. Located next to the Timbergrove Manor neighborhood just west of 
the
 Heights, it lies two blocks west of TC Jester, with W. 11th Street forming 
its southern
 boundary. It has been a de facto park for decades; many residents reminiscre 
about
 playing in “the grove” when they were children. This tranquil oasis of 
large pines, oaks
 and other native trees and wildflowers is the 3rd largest greenspace inside 
Loop 610
 and the largest greenspace that is not protected with official park status. 
Only the
 Memorial Park/Houston Arboretum and Hermann Park are larger in size and both 
are
 protected as official city parks.
              However, the property’s status as a park is in name only. 
Originally part of the Hogg
 Foundation’s holdings, in 1939 the property was deeded to the University of 
Texas,
 which in turn sold it to HISD ten years later. It has remained in HISD’s 
inventory of
 property since then. Significantly, some 7 years ago HISD announced plans to 
build
 their new High School for the Performing and Visual Arts on the site and 
despite this
 being one of the most desirable schools a neighborhood might wish for, 
residents
 overwhelmingly supported the concept of retaining the property as a park. 
Neighbors,
 in cooperation with city government, persuaded HISD to sign a 5-year lease 
with
 Houston Parks and Recreation Department. HPARD took over the maintenance of 
the
 property, giving it the temporary name of “W. 11th Street Park,” with the 
hope being
 eventually to add it permanently to the City’s inventory of parks.
              But economics intervened. About 2 years ago HISD decided to put 
the property up for
 auction: times are tight, and they need the money. At the time several 
developers
 were interested in purchasing the property for townhomes or other housing
 developments.  However, people who use and love the park got wind of
 the potential sale and did a huge letter-writing campaign to HISD and the 
mayor,
 asking them please to preserve this property permanently as a “passive use” 
(i.e. nonimproved)
 park. As a result HISD and the city negotiated an option-to-purchase
 price of $9.2 million. That's when the Houston Parks Board, a non-profit 
organization
 dedicated to acquiring park land for the City of Houston, got involved and 
took over the
 fundraising. HPB had initially hoped someone would want naming rights to the 
park
 and would come forward with a big piece of the pie, and the rest would fall 
into place.
 This hasn't happened due to various circumstances - mainly competition with 
the new
 downtown park and many “crises” over the past year such as Katrina, Rita, 
the Asian
 tsunami, the earthquake in Pakistan, etc.. As a result only about $1.5 
million has been
 raised ($500,000 of which was given by the Houston Endowment immediately 
after the
 fundraising started). The good news is that the mayor and city council about 
a year
 ago approved matching funds up to $4 million - so there is approximately 
$3.7 million
 left to raise at this point. But the bad news is the option-to-purchase 
contract expires
 December 31, 2006.
              Because most local residents and other park users thought this 
was a “done deal,” it
 comes as a shock to learn that despite all these good-will negotiations 
between the city
 and HISD and the efforts of the Houston Parks Board, the site may yet be 
sold to
 developers. Currently a grassroots fundraising and awareness-raising drive 
is
 underway with dozens of residents from the surrounding communities stepping 
forth to
 offer their time and money - but 3.7 million is a huge amount. Corporate 
sponsors or
 other benefactors capable of making significant donations will obviously 
have to come
 forward as well.
              Houstonians not yet acquainted with the park should make an 
effort to see it. The
 property is its own best spokesperson: a green gem in our increasingly urban
 surroundings, a fine spot for family outings, bird and butterfly watching, 
enjoying native
 plants, jogging or dog walking or simply getting away from it all with a 
saunter through
 the woods. Whereas HISD regularly mowed the entire property, HPARD, at the
 encouragement of area neighbors, began mowing only an area consisting of the
 baseball field, a strip about 30 feet or so wide around the periphery of the 
park, and a
 few meandering trails in the interior. As a result, HPARD’s maintenance cost 
has been
 minimal and a wonderful little piece of East Texas habitat now exists right 
in the middle
 of Houston. A few nice benches have been installed, thanks to the generosity 
of The
 Garden Club of Houston. On the southeast corner volunteers maintain a 
butterfly
 garden, and a strip of annual wildflowers planted by neighbors along W. 11th 
street
 brings native flowers to West 11th street travelers every spring. The 
baseball field on
 the southwest corner is used by neighborhood softball groups.
              Birders and other nature lovers find the park particularly 
interesting. It serves as a
 valuable migratory stopover for many bird species in their northward spring 
migrations
 after crossing the Gulf of Mexico. As the vegetation has grown up, it has 
become an
 increasingly good year-round birding spot, especially for woodpeckers. At 
least 6
 species of woodpeckers have been seen there. Some are surprisingly abundant –

 particularly the spectacular red-headed woodpecker, a species considered 
rare in this
 area. A great horned owl or two also frequent the park and can often be 
heard in the
 evening or early morning. Hawks and ospreys stop by, the latter sometimes to 
eat a
 fish caught in nearby White Oak Bayou. Spicebush swallowtails and gulf 
fritillaries are
 the most common of numerous butterflies that make the park their home. Due 
to this
 concentration of wildlife, the Houston Audubon Society and Ornithology Group 
of the
 Outdoor Nature Club frequently use it as one of their destinations, and the 
North
 American Butterfly Association’s local chapter also visits it for their July 
butterfly count
 and other field trips.
              In addition to its beauty and value to wildlife, this 
undeveloped area provides flood
 mitigation for surrounding neighborhoods. Current flood maps place the 
entire
 property in the 100 year (1%) floodplain of White Oak Bayou, which is only a 
block or
 two away (many of the homes to the east and south of the park were flooded 
during
 tropical storm Allison). The heavy growth of trees, the natural jumble of 
ground cover,
 and the many low-lying areas in the park’s gently undulating surface all 
serve to
 sponge up rainwater and prevent and/or slow its time-to-release into the area
’s storm
 water system.
              For all these reasons this piece of property should remain in 
its current state, as
 undeveloped parkland. Houston needs more greenspace, not more townhomes.
 Fulfilling the purchase agreement is a win-win situation for all: HISD gets 
their muchneeded
 dollars; the City adds 21 acres to its parks inventory; flooding potential 
in the
 area is not exacerbated; and best of all Houstonians of all ages can 
continue to enjoy
 the park and the wildlife it sustains for years to come. If the deal falls 
through, the only
 winner is the developer who profits from building in a desirable area.
  


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