A major city project is planned Houston’s central downtown area. From Heiner Street to Hamilton Street, Pierce Elevated seeks to become a new urban oasis in Houston with plazas, recreation areas, and more.
Inspired by New York’s famous High Line Park, The Promenade Plantee in Paris, the Chicago’s 606 – as well as more local areas like Memorial Park – Pierce Elevated aims to provide a linear recreation-focused park in Downtown, Houston.
“This provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to transform the structure into one of the most distinctive urban recreation parks in the United States,” reads the park’s website.
Organizers behind the project have ensured the project’s low cost, pointing out that the structure is already in place. “Only access points, recreation routes, and basic amenities need to be added,” the website reads. Rather than removing any area structures, such as the freeways, the project would merely repurpose them.
Pierce Elevated plans to provide space for 2.6 miles of walking, biking, and cycling routes weaved in to the Buffalo Bayou trails, plazas with benches for proper views of the downtown skyline, areas designated for group activities, as well as direct access to buildings, restaurants, and apartments.
Potential amenities of the planned park include:
- 2.6-mile walking and jogging path
- Group activity areas
- Biking and roller-blading paths
- Gardens
- Pavilions
- Festival areas
- Food trucks
- Areas for stages and small concerts
- Kids play zones
- Park level bars and restaurants in adjacent buildings
- Direct access to adjacent businesses
- Sculptures and art installations
- Connections to Buffalo Bayou trails
- Connections across US 59/I-69 to Third Ward
Alternatively, Pierce Sky Park is an initiative that proposes to redevelop the area into an architecture-based park.
Officially, the plan isn’t set in stone. On Wednesday, February 22, the area redevelopment authority, Midtown Houston, plans to meet to discuss what will become of the area.
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