Former Golf Course Repurposed As Green Space
KELSEY BENOIT
THE SIGNAL
The Clear Lake City Water Authority (CLCWA), along with partners, is planning a new flood detention system that includes an open green space and efforts toward tree conservation.
The plan is called Exploration Green; it will be developed on a former golf course that was purchased in 2011 by the CLCWA. It spans across an area between Bay Area Boulevard, Space Center Boulevard and El Dorado Boulevard, near the UHCL campus.
The new park created as part of Exploration Green will be a nonprofit area open to residents. CLCWA introduced a master plan at a town hall meeting Feb. 21 that shows the park will provide a number of recreational opportunities including: athletic sports fields, an entrance plaza, picnic and open game areas, and hiking and biking trails.
The park’s primary purpose is to help with area flooding by establishing a wetland area with grasses and plants that help maintain and clean water, along with an elongated lake throughout the property.
The 178-acre area that Exploration Green will envelope includes upward of 700 trees. Drought issues in 2011 resulted in some tree loss to that area, but the proposed project could save up to 42 percent of the existing vegetation.
“Tree conservation is important because trees produce a large amount of oxygen and help to reduce carbon dioxide,” said Katie Hart, a digital media studies graduate student who is filming the project as part of a sustainability assignment in assistant professor Michael Brim’s video production and editing class. “They also provide housing for the local wildlife. Essentially, they are an important part of the ecosystem and need to be protected.”
Along with the preservation of existing nature and vegetation, CLCWA also has plans to work with the organization Trees for Houston to plant more trees. Trees for Houston was founded in 1982 and works to make sure that trees shade neighborhoods, clean air, help to beautify streets and slow runoff. The organization has worked on large projects around Houston including Bush Intercontinental Airport and Texas Southern University. They are a nonprofit organization that plants and preserves trees around Houston, and in nearly 30 years they have planted more than 460,000 trees.
“This is a rare opportunity to plant desirable native species within a heavily urbanized area,” said Barry Ward, executive director of Trees for Houston.
The two organizations, CLCWA and Trees for Houston, have plans for adding more than 3,000 native trees to the open area.
“The nursery area has just been completed, so installation of trees should begin in the next couple weeks,” Ward said.
For more information on the master plan for Exploration Green, visit www.CLCgreenplan.org. For more information on Trees for Houston, visit www.treesforhouston.org.
