Kinder Foundation Donating $70M To Fast Track Memorial Park Plan

HOUSTON, TX — The Memorial Park Master Plan is one of the nation’s largest and most visionary urban park restorations. The Kinder Foundation announced Wednesday it is offering a grant of $70 million to fast-track the plan that's led by Memorial Park Conservancy (MPC), Houston Parks and Recreation Department (HPARD), and the Uptown Development Authority (UDA).

On Wednesday, a revised and restated Memorial Park Development Agreement was presented before the Quality of Life Committee of the Houston City Council and is pending council approval. The planning partners outlined a private-public funding framework, built from Kinder Foundation’s lead gift, for developing a significant portion of the Master Plan within the next decade.

“With the City Council’s approval, this historic gift will enhance a park that draws users from all over Houston, boosts the city’s entire park system and help make Houston more flood-resilient,” Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said. “The Kinders’ past generosity to several signature Houston parks, along with this latest magnificent gesture, means their foundation is ever more a constant catalyst for health, recreation, community engagement, appreciation of nature, green space preservation and other quality-of-life factors that help make our city great. Let’s all applaud Kinder Foundation for its vision and commitment to making Memorial Park a treasured destination place for years to come.”

Kinder Foundation has been instrumental in Houston’s nationally recognized green space renaissance over the past ten years, gifting transformational grants that often serve as a catalyst for additional philanthropic and government funding, including Discovery Green, Buffalo Bayou Park, and Bayou Greenways 2020. Kinder Foundation’s $70 million lead gift to Memorial Park – the largest single parks grant in Houston history – resulted from conversations over a two-year period and specifically supports connectivity to and within the Bayou City’s largest urban park, Memorial Park.

“Memorial Park, one of the nation’s largest parks, is much-loved by Houstonians and requires ongoing maintenance,” states Rich Kinder, chairman, Kinder Foundation. “Our experience is that it takes a carefully designed public-private partnership to ensure that a park reaches its true potential. The partnership the Kinder Foundation has conceived with the City sets the stage for a more vibrant Memorial Park.”

Designated to complete priority projects over the next 10 years, as well as provide long-term care of these capital improvements and the overall park, Kinder Foundation’s gift is slightly more than half of the $125 million in private sector funding to be raised by MPC. Augmenting Kinder Foundation’s $70 million will be $15 million previously secured by MPC and $40 million in new donor commitments.

Kinder Foundation’s lead gift also leverages the potential for $30 million in federal support, alongside UDA’s $50 million investment for infrastructure improvements. With this restated agreement, HPARD will regain $600,000 in annual fees previously committed for green space maintenance and the Cullen Running Trails Center operations.

“We are thankful to the Kinder Foundation for their continuing support of parks throughout the city. The funds regained will be a catalyst for our ongoing Neighborhood Playground Initiative,” said Steve Wright, director, HPARD.

A sustainable, resilient urban center

Memorial Park is unique on a local and national scale because of its central location and size; at 1,500 acres, Houston’s largest green asset inside the city, is almost double the size of New York’s Central Park. Therefore, restoring, enhancing, and protecting the park’s natural environment, deployed through a science-based, data-driven method, serves as a nationwide model for urban forest and park renewal.

The Central Connector also includes significant acreage of native prairie restoration. By promoting the park’s healthy ecologies and habitants, Memorial Park can sustainably balance conservation with recreational opportunity. Furthermore, subsequent ecological resiliency will help retain stormwater onsite and reduce erosion into Buffalo Bayou, while improved drainage will streamline emergency vehicle transit on Memorial Drive during major floods.

(Photo by Rob Stothard/Getty Images)