After losing her eight-month-old daughter in 2019, Margaret Elkins Davis looked for ways to celebrate Isabel’s life. She considered renovating the community center at what her neighborhood liked to call “Pumpkin Park,” where she grew up going as a child and frequently took Isabel and her siblings.

Six years later, Davis is spearheading an $11.2 million renovation and is the founding president of the new nonprofit Friends of Pumpkin Park.

About the project

For the past few years, Davis has talked with her community and met with officials from the Houston Parks Board and the Houston Parks and Recreation Department to plan out the renovation details.

While the park was officially founded in 1938, Davis said the River Oaks neighborhood has called the space Pumpkin Park for decades due to the giant pumpkin carriage on the playground. She began advocating for a name change, and in 2023, Houston City Council officially renamed the park Pumpkin Park.



A few of the renovations include:

  • New restroom building
  • Redesigned walking trail
  • New picnic grove
  • Covered outdoor classroom
  • Basketball and beach volleyball court enhancements
  • Playground area improvements
  • Enhanced greenery throughout the five acres of parkland
  • Infrastructure improvements

As of now, the project is still in the permitting process, but Davis said she hopes to break ground during the summer of 2026.

Pumpkin Park was nicknamed after the life-sized pumpkin carriage at the playground. (Roo Moody/Community Impact)
Pumpkin Park was nicknamed after the life-sized pumpkin carriage at the playground. (Roo Moody/Community Impact)

A closer look

The total cost of the project is estimated at $11.2 million, with a $2.5 million endowment to maintain the park. Additionally, Davis said Friends of Pumpkin Park will allocate 10% of the budget, or $1 million, to other park projects in underserved areas, such as Simon Minchen and Bricker parks.

Davis said she wants Pumpkin Park to be a place not just for those in the River Oaks neighborhood, but for all Houston residents to enjoy.

“[Isabel] didn't get to experience much in her short life, but she did experience walking by the park, and it gives me so much peace knowing she will never be forgotten,” Davis said.