The Memorial Park Conservancy is transforming 100 acres along West Memorial Loop Drive into a new park that will pay tribute to Houston's World War I history and provide new recreational amenities and green space for Memorial Park users.

The features

Described as a 'poetic re-imagining', the conservancy announced the $42 million transformational project April 22 will be known as Memorial Groves. According to a news release, the focal point of the expansion will be a living remembrance that changes colors with the seasons, a forest of more than 2,000 bald cypress trees that will be planted in a grid around the existing trees.

Covering approximately 20 acres along the loop, the trees are intended to symbolize soldiers standing in formation and evoke the vast scale of Camp Logan and the overall war effort.

Camp Logan, according to the Heritage Society, was a training base camp along Buffalo Bayou used in the early 1900s to train and house soldiers fighting in World War I.


On the north end of the forest, trenches inspired by the warfare tactic will be framed on two sides by grassy, 12-foot-tall earthen mounds with a reflective water feature at the center.

The entire park will also include interpretive features, signage and exhibits distributed through the landscape, as well as the unearthed foundations of several camp buildings.

“The Memorial Groves project fulfills the vision of the park’s founders who a century ago preserved the 1,200 acres of Camp Logan as a living memorial to the 70,000 soldiers who trained there," Thomas Woltz, owner of Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects said in the release. "This landscape-scale memorial utilizes thousands of newly planted trees and savanna restoration to evoke the immensity of transformation, sacrifice and bravery, of the individuals who arrived here as civilians and Guardsmen."
Established in 1924, Houston's Memorial Park was named to honor the 70,000 soldiers who served at Camp Logan, a U.S. Army training camp during World War I. (Courtesy National Archives)
Established in 1924, Houston's Memorial Park was named to honor the 70,000 soldiers who served at Camp Logan, a U.S. Army training camp during World War I. (Courtesy National Archives)
A quick note

According to the release, other features not related to the WWI exhibit will include:
  • A new playground
  • Trails for cyclists and pedestrians
  • Green space
  • A new visitor center
  • Covered pavilion
  • Adult work areas
The project will also include restoring a twenty-acre expanse of savanna habitat, adding new parking on spaces at both ends of Memorial Groves and new restrooms.
Memorial Groves will honor those who contributed to the war effort through a place-based, interactive experience. (Rendering courtesy Nelson Byrd Woltz)
Memorial Groves will honor those who contributed to the war effort through a place-based, interactive experience. (Rendering courtesy Nelson Byrd Woltz)
Zooming out


Memorial Groves is a part of the 10-year Memorial Park Master Plan, which was initiated in 2018 to restore the park's ecology and improve its amenities, according to the news release. Other projects funded through the master plan include the one-mile segment of the Seymour Lieberman Trail, the 100-acre Kinder Land Bridges and the running complex.

Projects still in the works include the Southern Arc Trail along the park's southern edge and the Uptown Memorial Park Trail connecting the park to the broader community.

Stay tuned

Preliminary site work and ecological restoration for the Memorial Groves project will begin this month, and park goers can expect to see fencing placed around the project area. The western portion of the Outer Loop Trail is expected to be closed to users during the preliminary work period, along with several parking spaces along West Memorial Loop Drive.


Construction is slated to begin in 2026, with a target completion date in 2027.