Discovery Green is people! *
Discovery Green, Mayor White's grand park is about to open officially, and we've started to see both national and local media coverage of the matter.
Several days ago, the Chicago Sun-Times raved about the park (while emphasizing it's a "petite" version of that great city's Millennium Park), and the New York Times seemed awfully excited about the park.
On Sunday, the Chronicle's Mike Snyder offered a more balanced look at Discovery Green. Being the more balanced (and less cheerleading) sorts ourselves, we thought we'd share a few excerpts:
When the City Council approved the $8 million outlay on Dec. 1, 2004, council members Addie Wiseman and Gordon Quan cast the only "no" votes. Both have since left the council because of term limits.
Wiseman dissented because there was no guarantee that general tax revenues would never be used for the park, and Quan said he was concerned because White's staff couldn't answer questions such as how parking would be provided. The decision to build a parking garage under Discovery Green was made later.
Another concern often expressed about downtown parks is that they're likely to attract homeless people. Root Memorial Square, a small city park just south of Discovery Green, was the site of homeless encampments for years.
Experts on designing urban parks say the best way to prevent this is to keep them filled with people and activity.
[snip]
Because Discovery Green is in a "challenging location," [Phil] Myrick said, it will have to offer compelling activities to attract visitors from far-flung neighborhoods.
"Consider your average person on a Saturday or Sunday. Are they really going to pack up the kids and head downtown, or stay closer to home?" Myrick asked. "If downtown is the only audience (for the park), it will be a terrible waste."
Guy Hagstette, the park's director, said he's keenly aware of this challenge. Planners have worked hard, he said, to develop attractions and activities that appeal to all kinds of people. Almost all of the activities, with the exception of model boats and parking in the underground garage, will be free.
People who enjoy trendy games can play bocce, an Italian sport similar to lawn-bowling, while more traditional Texans can pitch horseshoes. Part of the model boat pool will be frozen during winter months for ice skating. Children can frolic in a "mist tree" that also serves as a piece of public art and a place for joggers to cool off.
The Houston Public Library will offer indoor and outdoor reading rooms and plans to provide free WiFi service throughout the park.
Discovery Green is a lovely trinket, and perhaps it will draw heavy use from our diverse community. Who knows, we may have to have a blogHOUSTON bocce gathering some weekend (if we can figure out exactly how that might work).
Incidentally, we found Slampo's take on Discovery Green much more entertaining than the stuff from those Chicago and New York newspapers.
* I was too distracted by Memphis-Kansas to come up with a relevant headline, so I decided Sedosi's old observation from some time ago would have to do.
BLOGVERSATION: Lose an Eye, It's a Sport, Off the Kuff, Mike McGuff.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/07/08 09:57 PM | Print |
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