2019 Triangle Park Improvement Project

Westmoreland Triangle Park - 2019 Triangle Park Improvement Project Completion Album

May 22, 2019
Contact: Jan Glazner, 713.816.4636

Westmoreland Civic Association is proud to announce the celebration of the completion of the Triangle Park Improvement. The celebration on Sunday, June 2, 2019 at 4 pm will feature Mayor Pro Tem Ellen Cohen officially opening the revitalized park. Triangle Park is a small esplanade park within the boundaries of the historic Westmoreland Addition and is located at the intersection of Hawthorne and Burlington.

Funds for the park were made possible through donations and through a matching grant awarded by the City of Houston Department of Neighborhoods and Ellen Cohen’s office. The grant program helps neighborhoods fund beautification and improvement projects, which increase pride, beautify neighborhoods, and encourage community participation. Triangle Park was badly overgrown and unsightly and sometimes used as a dumping ground. Once the Westmoreland Civic Association learned about the grant, they set out to see if the improvement to the small neighborhood park would qualify.

The initial requirement to be a 501(c)3 organization was daunting, since the association didn’t have that designation, but Bering Memorial United Methodist church came to the rescue by agreeing to sponsor the association. Next step: a design. John Gardner, Garden Guru of Houston, a local gardening expert who specializes in native plants, designed a plan that would open up the park and include low-maintenance plants. Once the grant was approved, the civic association began a fund drive among the neighbors to cover the balance of the cost. Universal Landscaping Service cleared the unwanted plants, thinned and shaped those designated to keep, reworked the irrigation and planted new plants.

Westmoreland, designated a historic neighborhood in 1997, was platted in 1902 as a 12 block subdivision on the outskirts of Houston at the end of the South End trolley line. It is located just west of the 527 spur to downtown and is bordered by West Alabama, Garrott, Hawthorne and Burlington. Many of the original houses still remain and reflect the popular styles of the day - late Victorian, Queen Anne, American Four-Square, Craftsmen, and Colonial Revival. Preservation Houston periodically offers walking tours of the neighborhood.

March 2019

DONATE TO TRIANGLE PARK IMPROVEMENTS

Hawthorne at Burlington

The Westmoreland Triangle Park was dedicated 30 years ago to honor Judge Miron Love, a Harris County Criminal Court Judge who lived at 3526 Garrott.  He and his wife Marjorie were active Westmoreland residents until his death in the late 1990s. 

Unfortunately, the park has since been neglected.  It is overgrown, a hiding place for vagrants and a dumping ground for unwanted items.  We intend to change that.

Westmoreland Civic Association recently received a grant from the City of Houston to make improvements to the park.  Our plans include thinning out the overgrowth to allow the existing live oak trees and crepe myrtles to be central and more visible.  We’ll keep the oleander screen along Bagby for privacy and noise reduction and provide native plants that will be low maintenance and attract birds and butterflies. 

The improved park will be an attractive, comfortable and welcoming space that will provide:

• A beautiful focal point for neighborhood pride.

• A meeting space for neighborhood social events such as Neighbors’ Night Out, or Easter egg hunts. Less formally but possibly more importantly, neighbors will use the park to simply sit and get to know each other.

• A pollinator way-station and songbird habitat.  Birds and butterflies will help local residents connect with nature. Following is a sample of species from the planting list:

• American Beautyberry — A nectar source for butterflies and winter food source for birds. In the fall and early winter, the branches are laden with magenta purple berry clusters that look spectacular as the leaves drop in autumn.
• Texas Senna -- The golden flowers of this repeat blooming, evergreen small tree are an excellent source of nectar for butterflies and native bees. The leaves are host (caterpillar food) for sulfur butterflies.
• Pigeonberry — The  dainty flowers and berries of this native ground cover are produced nearly year-round in Houston.
• White Mist Flower — The flowers of this native small shrub are said to be one of the best butterfly attractors in late summer and fall.
• Pam’s Pink Turk’s Cap -- Butterflies like the flowers and hummingbirds love them.
• Butterfly Pentas — A long blooming perennial that is one of the best magnets for butterflies, hummingbirds and bees.
• Another goal of the park is to provide a screen to block the view and sound of the heavy traffic along Spur 527. This goal is balanced with the objective to maintain visibility for security reasons.

The current cost is estimated at                                   $10,000
City of Houston Grant                                                - $5,000
Balance necessary from Westmoreland                          $5,000
residents and supporters

Please Donate now to make these improvements a possibility.  Print and complete the form below.  Mail or drop off to 3704 Garrott.

Triangle Park Donation Form