The West University Place Parks Master Plan was selected as Honorable Mention in the Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC) Parks and Natural Areas Awards Competition, Planning Tools category. The 2015 Parks Master Plan was formally adopted by City Council on March 23, 2015 after an 18-month effort between a Council-appointed Citizens Task Force, city staff, and landscape and architecture consultant White Oak Studio. Former City Council members Dick Yehle and Joan Johnson (2011-2015) served as Council Liaisons and contributed significantly to the overall effort.
Following a citizens’ survey facilitated by the AgriLife Extension Service of Texas A&M University, the city hosted two town hall open forum meetings to gather additional resident input. The West University Place Parks Board, Senior Board and Friends Board were also involved throughout the process and the city conducted several workshops with City Council during this period. The adopted plan provides the city with a strategic road map in further improvement, expansion and maintenance of the West University Place parks system and recreational facilities for at least the next decade.
Following the adoption, the 2015 Parks Master Plan was immediately put into action with the redevelopment of the west end of Colonial Park, generously funded by the Friends of West University Place Parks. That project will allow for the full use of a wonderful .25 acre greenspace during the Colonial Pool off-season, basically in concert with the HISD school year, through the construction of a new 3,000 square foot wooden deck under the majestic oak trees on the north side of the property. For a copy of the 2015 Parks Master Plan, citizens may view it online by visiting www.westutx.gov/ParksMasterPlan.
A photograph of the H-GAC awards presentation from Tuesday, January 19, from left: Assistant Parks and Recreation Director Susan White; former City Councilman Dick Yehle (2011-2015) and PMP task force member; Mark Prescott, Friends Board Chairman and PMP Task Force member; Parks and Recreation Director Tim O’Connor; Jim Patterson, Principal – White Oak Studio, and the Honorable Judge Nate McDonald, Chairman of the H-GAC Board of Directors.