State of the Park 2023: The Nature of Innovation

Memorial Park Conservancy’s State of the Park is an annual event to celebrate the previous year’s accomplishments and to share updates on current and future projects happening in Memorial Park. At 1,500 acres in the heart of Houston, Memorial Park is the city’s largest urban wilderness park. Its size, centrality, composition, and cultural history, as well as the diversity of the millions of people from more than 170 zip codes that visit it every year, make Memorial Park unique – locally and globally.

At this year’s State of the Park, Shellye Arnold, President & CEO, will discuss how Memorial Park Conservancy, along with our project partners, have spent the last decade transforming a Park that was impacted by drought, severe storms, and a lack of adequate resources and public funding. By looking to the past for lessons in building a resilient future, she will examine how we have created a grounded and implementable vision that will help Memorial Park withstand future challenges and foster an even deeper connection with the diverse community of Houston.

Attendees will hear first-hand about the innovative approaches taken in creating the high-quality and high-impact public spaces seen in the Clay Family Eastern Glades, Kinder Land Bridge & Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff Prairie, and the upcoming Running Complex project. Come get a sneak peek of the highly anticipated centennial events happening throughout 2024 as we prepare to celebrate 100 years of Memorial Park. Attendees will also be the first to receive our 2023 Impact Report.

Join us to learn about the nature of innovation and how we are designing for the future of Memorial Park – one built on a healthy and sustainable ecosystem from plant to person.