Clay Family Eastern Glades

Eastern Glades includes several new amenities to serve park users.

• 100 acres of open space for relaxation, reflection, and rejuvenation
• 5.5-acre Hines Lake and wetlands with beautiful sunset views
• 3 pavilions and 4 picnic areas
• 2.5 miles of new trails explore, including boardwalks along the Lake and Wetlands
• 5.5-acre Central Lawn for passive recreation such as strolling, picnicking, and relaxing
• Oval Promenade encircling the grassy Central Lawn
• Live Oak Court for future concessions and events
• Additional parking, dark sky lighting, water fountains for people and pups, benches, and bike racks

The design of Eastern Glades preserved habitat that currently existed in Memorial Park while also introducing more native habitat suitable for the wildlife and landscapes of the Houston area and the upper Texas Gulf Coast. This diversity within the city offers more opportunities for visitors to observe and interact with nature right in the heart of the city.

When the invasive thicket is removed, the pine-hardwood forests will have a very different character than they do now. Instead of appearing like an impenetrable mass, they will be filled with light and air between the trees with occasional groupings of shrubs and a low, native understory.

These areas within Eastern Glades will be ideal for both people and wildlife. The canopy of the existing mature trees are ideal bird habitat. A restored understory and midstory will become better habitat and forage for wildlife. Carefully designed trails will allow people to experience select areas within the forest.

Although unfamiliar to Memorial Park in recent decades, the savanna that was once a dominant feature of this area will become the Park’s defining ecological type. Clusters of pines and hardwoods known as “motts” of varying sizes will dot an understory of native grasses and forbs. The presence of more sunlight will allow for the development of specimen trees, ones that become sculptural characters in the landscape. When dead standing wood and invasives are removed and a more open overstory is created, an existing dormant seedbank of native species will emerge and thrive. The tawny grasses and full canopied trees of the savanna will become the iconic landscape type of Memorial Park.

Prairie habitats are quickly being lost in the Houston area. Existing small patches of native prairie in Memorial Park are thriving in the CenterPoint utility easement and around Memorial Drive. The Eastern Glades design aimed to create more of this prairie habitat and make it more accessible to everybody. In the open natural grassland portions of Eastern Glades, you can expect to see diverse collections of wildflowers and wildlife that rely on this landscape.

Wetlands are found across Houston and critical to holding and directing the 50 inches of rain that falls per year on average in the city. Eastern Glades features multiple natural wetlands that hold water after periods of rainfall. The largest wetland in the park is the Faultline Wetland on the west side of Hines Lake. Following rain events, visitors can expect to see many different species of birds and insects in and around these retained natural wetlands.

Hines Lake is a newly constructed feature in Eastern Glades to help collect and the slow the flow of runoff into Buffalo Bayou. The lake is lined with native plant species that provide forage for the dozens of bird species that already found in Memorial Park. The lake is fed by water running off from the nearby parking lots and bioswales that remove contaminants and sediment in the water creating a cleaner and higher quality habitat for wildlife and park visitors to enjoy.

Collecting and directing rainfall runoff is one of the key components in the Eastern Glades design. The bioswales in the Eastern Glades parking lot help divert and slow the rate of runoff into Buffalo Bayou. These bioswales may look overgrown, but they are actually regularly maintained by removing non-native weeds and promoting the natural growth of native wetland plant species. The plants and soil help filter the water before it flows into Hines Lake and ultimately Buffalo Bayou.

A 5.5 acre turf lawn of Zoysia grass offers a place for people to gather in the center of the Eastern Glades Oval. The turf offers comfortable areas to enjoy the park while also being close to native wildlife and plants in the savanna islands.

Memorial Park Conservancy strives to contribute to the conservation and ecological restoration fields by carrying out research on wildlife and vegetation diversity. Eastern Glades provides a unique opportunity to study the effect of human use on multiple habitats and the species they support. Projects evaluating wildlife and plant distribution are currently ongoing in Eastern Glades.

Recorded history of Memorial Park dates back to the 1820's when a group of travelers wrote of piney woods in what is now the park. The park itself was established in 1924 when the land was purchased by the City of Houston from the Hogg family.

The entry plaza from Blossom Street and associated alley connecting the street to the lake was designed to honor one of the original roads into Camp Logan. The plaza sits near the former entry to Camp Logan.

Prior to Memorial Park, this land served as Camp Logan from 1917-1919. It was home to training ground for thousands of soldiers preparing to serve in World War I. Many remnants of this camp remain in parts of the park. The design of Eastern Glades aimed to honor that history by including architectural aspects in the pavilions and restrooms.

Following the closure of Camp Logan, the land was purchased by the Hogg Family, then sold to the City of Houston to be turned into a park. In 1924, Memorial Park was established and a park plan was created shortly thereafter. Nearly a century after the park was created, the plaza and lake features initially laid out in this plan are becoming reality.

Over 90 years later, the Hare & Hare Plan was influential in informing the modern day  Master Plan  which is now well underway (as indicated by the April 2020 image captured above).

Clay Family Eastern Glades is the first major project of the  Ten-Year Plan , which is overseen by the Memorial Park Standards Committee, a partnership comprised of Houston Parks and Recreation Department, the Kinder Foundation, Memorial Park Conservancy, and Uptown Development Authority.

See how Memorial Park and Eastern Glades has changed over time.

• <1800's - Before European settlers arrived to the area, the land that is now Memorial Park, like all of Houston, was Gulf Coast grassland prairie, wetlands, and savanna with riparian forests. The land was subjected to natural disturbance such as fire from thunderstorms and grazing from the great bison herds that moved across North America. These natural events maintained open grasslands and savannas across the region. Indigenous peoples like the Karankawa continued to preserve open grasslands through controlled fire as part of their agricultural practices.
• 1800's - As settlers arrived to the area in the early 19th century and the cities of Harrisburg and ultimately Houston were established, the first homestead was built along Buffalo Bayou in what is now Memorial Park. Along with it, ranching, farming, logging operations, and a brickmaking factory were all established in and around the present day park boundaries.
• 1917-1919 - Camp Logan is open as a U.S. military training facility during World War I. The plat shows the estimated locations of roadways and structures within the present day Eastern Glades.
• 1930's - The first master plan for Memorial Park is created by landscape architecture firm Hare & Hare. The plan calls for a loop road through the park and a round gathering area in the eastern portion of the park.
• 1940's - By 1940, implementation of the initial Hare & Hare Master Plan has begun with construction of a loop road, golf course, and ballfields.
• 1950's - In less than 30 years, much of the park that was open grassland in Camp Logan has turned into dense forest. The removal of land management techniques such as grazing, mowing, and prescribed fire allowed forest species to grow and expand.
• 1970's-1980's - The Seymour Lieberman Trail is built within the original Memorial Loop Road and through Eastern Glades. The forest canopy continues to fill in, however evidence of original Camp Logan roads remain.
• 2000 - By the turn of the 21st century, better technology in landscape monitoring become more available.
• 2011 - Severe drought gripped much of Texas in 2011, including Memorial Park. Over half of the trees in the park die because of drought, including many in Eastern Glades.
• 2014 - Development of a new master plan begins, including creating the Eastern Glades project.
• 2016 - Initial surveys of the Eastern Glades were completed and ground was broken on Phase 1 of the new project.
• 2017 - Phase 1 of the Eastern Glades project is well underway with new parking and restrooms being built.
• 2018 - Phase 1 is completed and with funding for Phase 2 is secured, construction begins.
• 2019 - Construction of Phase 2 of Eastern Glades begins.
• September 2019 - Eastern Glades and Hines Lake is put to its first test when Tropical Storm Imelda drops 6" of rain in just a few hours on the site. The lake fills, but does not overflow the lake edge.
• December 2019 - Installation of the Zoysia turf in the Oval begins.
• Summer 2020 - Final work begins in Eastern Glades to prepare for opening.
• July 2020 - Eastern Glades officially opens!