The Memorial Park building and grounds are a place where the local community connects with nature. Innovative construction techniques bring out the natural qualities of the building materials while integrating with the site’s geographic and historic context.
The experience begins in a lower level curatorial space that showcases the local war history. Visitors are then guided through the memorial walls into a serene park space where they encounter meaningful adjacencies of names and meanings.
The History
Memorial Park is one of the village’s most beautiful places for residents to compete in sports, discover nature and engage with each other socially. It is also home to the village’s most fitting September 11th memorial, the Veterans Memorial, dedicated in honor of all villagers who have served this country.
In 1917 the government took advantage of Houston’s climate and location to build Camp Logan – a training center for troops who would be sent abroad to fight in World War I. Thousands of soldiers trained here under the strict etiquette and careful coaxing of Army drill sergeants.
After the war ended, the acreage of the abandoned Camp Logan became Memorial Park under the watchful eye of the Hogg family. In 1948 renowned landscape architects Hare & Hare were hired to design the core of what is now the Park. The Park has been the scene of many joyful and sorrowful events over the years.
The Memorial Walls
The main attraction in the park is a series of large, concave concrete slabs engraved with names of local veterans. The slabs are arranged in two pools, one on each side of the memorial. The names range from World War I to Afghanistan.
The park’s other monument is the Police Memorial Wall, which features two dedicated tree groves to memorialize the law enforcement officers who lost their lives in the line of duty. The park also contains a 9/11 Survivor Tree, which is a Callery pear tree that was one of the only trees to survive the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in downtown Manhattan.
The newest addition to the memorial park is the Gold Star Monument, built in compliance with style guidelines set by the Woody Williams Foundation and Delaware Gold Star families. The monument is unique in that it has a void design, symbolic of the missing family members, who have died in service to their country.
The Peace Statue
The Peace Statue is the centerpiece of Memorial Park. It is the place where people go to reflect on the power of the human spirit. The statue represents the world reaching out to one another.
The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims are also a must see. The museum explains what happened in the city of Hiroshima before, during, and after the bombing through original photographs, lifelike models, recovered items, and detailed descriptions.
The NYC AIDS Memorial honors the lives of over 100,000 New Yorkers who died of AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome). The memorial recognizes their caregivers and activists who helped care for the sick, fight discrimination, lobby for medical research, and alter the drug approval process. The memorial also aims to inspire current and future activists, health professionals, and individuals living with HIV in the ongoing quest for global health and peace.
The Veterans Memorial
The main seating area is a large section of aluminum bleachers that run down the first base line. Behind home plate sits a log cabin-style press box.
A small section of padded wooden light towers stand in-play, and there is also a scoreboard located behind the right field wall.
Over 3,000 names of the dead of the Arizonans killed in wars and conflicts are displayed on a wall that overlooks the Colorado River. The names are engraved in bronze and are mounted on flagpoles with 50 stars representing the states of the country.
Memorial Park is a natural environment of beauty and peace for quiet meditation. The park’s natural, forested setting is unique and provides a sanctuary for our community to come together socially and compete in sports. Memorial Park is also a place for all citizens to remember and honor their family and friends who have served the nation in the military. Personalized engraved bricks can be purchased for this purpose.