Houston Parks Board’s Fourth Annual Bayou Greenway Day Attracts 4,000 People At Tidwell Park Along Halls Bayou Greenway

Mayor Sylvester Turner and many VIPs celebrated Bayou Greenways 2020

HOUSTON, April 4, 2018 – Houston Parks Board’s fourth annual Bayou Greenway Day was its most successful to date, garnering its highest community attendance and its broadest participation of community and city event partners.  The event, sponsored by Noble Energy, had approximately 4,000 adults, teens and children taking part in the free family festival at Tidwell Park along Halls Bayou Greenway. This year’s event featured football clinics with the Houston Texans and soccer drills with Houston Dynamo. The nationally celebrated and award-winning local band ThunderSOUL Orchestra played a high-energy set of live funk and soul music for all to enjoy.

Other events included a fun-run, Easter Egg Hunt, and activities provided by the Houston Zoo, Memorial Hermann, Nature & Eclectic Outdoors, Bike Houston, Urban Harvest, Harris County Precinct 1, Harris Count

 

y Flood Control District, Houston Area Road Runners Association, Houston Metro, Houston Maritime Museum, Workshop Houston and dozens of others, including face painting, arts, crafts, and lawn games. Festival attendees enjoyed free food from Texas Tamale Company, KIND Snacks and Fuddruckers. Additionally, 3,000 free Houston Astros caps were given out.

The event also celebrated the unveiling of a newly renovated playground at Tidwell Park that was generously supported by the NCAA Men’s Basketball Committee and the 2016 Houston Men’s Final Four Local Organizing Committee, and Houston Parks and Recreation Department. The NCAA Men’s Basketball Committee and the 2016 Houston Men’s Final Four Local Organizing Committee both contributed funds from the event to purchase playground equipment for Tidwell Park. The new playground will have a long-lasting impression on the youth of our community and our groups were pleased to participate in such a great renovation project.

Photo credit for those I just sent is Tiffany Norman.

KPRC’s Andy Cerota served as this year’s emcee and helped welcome several dignitaries including Mayor Sylvester Turner, Vice Mayor Pro Tem Jerry Davis; Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee; State Representative Senfronia Thompson; Houston Parks Board President and CEO, Beth White; Houston Parks and Recreation Director Steve Wright; Tony Chase, Chairman of the 2016 Final Four Local Organizing Committee and HISD Board President Rhonda Skillern-Jones. Each spoke passionately about Houston’s progressive work in expanding our greenspaces and improving connectivity, including Bayou Greenways 2020.

One of the most ambitious parks projects in the country, Bayou Greenways 2020 is completing a 150-mile network of connected parks and trails along Houston’s major waterways, including Halls Bayou Greenway, where the event was located. The $220 million project will connect people, places, and greenspace while enhancing air and water quality, preserving greenspace in flood-prone areas and stimulating economic development in Houston.

“Bayou Greenway Day is a festival that members of the community and I look forward to each year,” said Mayor Sylvester Turner. “It makes me proud to see Houstonians come together to celebrate the bayous and greenways that make our city unique and special.”

Caption: Left to right are: State Representative Senfronia Thompson; Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee; Houston Parks Board President and CEO, Beth White; Chairman of the 2016 Final Four Local Organizing Committee, Tony Chase and City Councilmember Jack Christie. Photo courtesy of Houston Parks Board.

Bayou Greenways 2020 is a public-private partnership between the nonprofit Houston Parks Board, the City of Houston and the Houston Parks and Recreation Department. It is being implemented in close collaboration with the Harris County Flood Control District, which manages the county’s bayous and creeks for drainage and flood risk reduction.

 

Link to event photos for media here.

ABOUT:  A nonprofit 501(c)(3) dedicated to providing access to quality parks and greenspace for all people, Houston Parks Board creates, improves, protects and advocates for parkland in the Greater Houston region. Since 1976, the organization has utilized public-private partnerships and its extensive philanthropic, government and community relationships to improve parks large and small. Houston Parks Board is currently leading the transformational $220 million Bayou Greenways 2020 project to complete a city-wide vision of a 150-mile network of connected parks and trails along Houston’s major waterways. For more information, visit www.houstonparksboard.org.

Bayou Greenways 2020 is one of the most ambitious parks projects in the U.S. By transforming more than 3,000 acres of underutilized land along Houston’s major waterways into public, accessible greenspace, Bayou Greenways 2020 will complete a 150‐mile network of connected parks and trails. The $220 million project will add 80 new miles of greenways, which will connect people, places and greenspace while enhancing air and water quality, preserving greenspace in flood prone areas and stimulating economic development in Houston.

In 2012, thanks in part to the “Parks By You!” campaign, Houston voters overwhelmingly approved a bond proposal that set aside $100 million for Bayou Greenways 2020. Houston Parks Board is raising a matching $120 million and managing acquisition, design and construction of the Bayou Greenways.

The Houston Parks and Recreation Department (H.P.A.R.D.) stewards and manages over 37,851 acres of parkland and greenspace for the City of Houston and develops and implements recreational programming for citizens of all abilities. For more information on the Houston Parks and Recreation Department, call (832) 395-7022 or visit www.houstonparks.org.