When Hermann Park turns 100 in 2014, it will celebrate with a new, eight-acre destination site that will include several special gardens, a sculpture promenade and a glass pavilion.
The Centennial Gardens is the last project to be completed in Hermann Park’s master plan developed in 1995 by the city of Houston. Work on the $30 million project is set to begin in August, with completion scheduled in November 2014.
The Hermann Park Conservancy, an organization dedicated to improving the park, is in the final stages of design and wants to share the plans with the public and get feedback. Public meetings are scheduled from 7:30 to 9 p.m. Wednesday and from 3 to 5 p.m. Thursday at Hermann Park Garden Center.
“We have worked out the design and types of gardens,” said Doreen Stoller, executive director of the conservancy. “Since Hermann Park is a public park and is free and open to the community, if the community has any good ideas, we’d like to hear them.”
Formal rose garden
The project will encompass the north side of the park near the Museum of Natural Science and Miller Theater, with entrance gates at Caroline and LaBranch on the park’s east side and at Hermann Park Drive on the west side.
The site will feature a formal rose garden, an arid garden and an interactive family garden with vegetables and herbs, which will be used in partnership with organizations that promote and educate about healthful eating.
The site also will include a celebration garden for special events. The conservancy receives many calls from people wanting to hold weddings at the park, Stoller said.
A 35-foot-tall garden mount will enable visitors to climb up and look down at the gardens and the formal lawn area. Water features will include a reflection pool and a water cascade.
Renowned architect Peter Bohlin has designed a glass pavilion located at the south end of the project, which will be a meeting room for garden clubs and plant organizations.
The pavilion will be a tribute to the park’s historic plan from 1920, which called for a glass conservatory that was never built, Stoller said.
18 statues and busts
The sculpture promenade will feature public art from around the world, including 18 statues and busts of international dignitaries, currently displayed near the park’s maintenance facility.
The statues and busts will be in a more prominent location in the Centennial Gardens, near the park’s Caroline entrance.
“The most exciting thing about the project is that Houston doesn’t have a large-scale public garden like this,” Stoller said. “This is a birthday gift for the city of Houston.”
renee.lee@chron.com
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