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https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opi...k-18625994.php

Briones wants Gulfton to get a 'signature' park like Hermann. And why not? (Editorial)
By The Editorial Board
Jan 25, 2024

What distinguishes a “signature park” from its more humble cousins — neighborhood parks, community parks, pocket parks? The answer is subjective, of course, but certain characteristics seem common to green spaces that enjoy this unofficial moniker. Size matters — Memorial Park (1,500 acres), Hermann Park (445 acres) and Buffalo Bayou Park (160 acres) — obviously qualify. Smaller parks with an abundance of programs and activities, such as downtown’s Discovery Green (a mere 12 acres), and Levy Park in the Upper Kirby area (six acres) — also claim the distinction.

Harris County Commissioner Lesley Briones wants to add Burnett Bayland Park to the “signature” category. It’s the only significant green space in the dense, diverse, low-income Gulfton neighborhood. A master planning process underway now offers a possible model for giving residents of underserved neighborhoods a park with the same benefits — recreational, healthful, educational and (dare we say) spiritual — as those in more prosperous areas.

Briones, a Democrat who took office in January 2023 after defeating Republican incumbent Jack Cagle, recalls visiting Burnett Bayland Park before she was elected and noticing a lot of broken glass on the ground. She picked it up herself. “None of our children deserves to play in an area that is unsafe and unkempt,” the former public school teacher says.

Briones and her staff are reluctant to talk about details of the planned improvements because these decisions will be shaped by an intensive community engagement process that involves three workshops and two online surveys. Maria Hernandez, the founder of the nonprofit advocacy group Madres del Parque, points to some obvious needs: better lighting to enhance safety; better drainage so that the playgrounds and sports fields won’t become useless after it rains; more cultural and educational programs.

Another problem is apparent to anyone who uses Google Maps to find Burnett Bayland: A seemingly endless chain-link fence lines the park along Chimney Rock, and it takes a bit of searching to find the main entrance on Gulfton. The master plan will include steps to make the park more accessible, Briones’ aides told us. And Briones wants to expand the park’s footprint from 32 to 70 acres by using county-owned property to its south. A big chunk of new green space might help to ameliorate the “heat island” effect in Gulfton, where a recent study found that the average temperature is 17 degrees higher than in Houston’s coolest neighborhoods.

Briones says she can’t estimate the final cost of the project — again, this will depend on what the community says it wants — except to say it will be in the millions. The county is paying $700,000 to the primary master plan consulting firm, WSP.