Parkspace And Preservation In Plans For Downtown Houston Revival

"Turning Allen's Landing on Buffalo Bayou, where Houston began 171 years ago this week, into an active water and lawn amenity has long been a dream of city boosters. Noble efforts have been made, but attracting Houstonians to the downtown waterway has been sidetracked by, at different times, pollution, floods, lack of funds, apathy, area blight, wrong approaches, homeless campers - you name it."

"Buffalo Bayou Partnership is confident the dream will soon become reality. In the spring, it will launch a $3 million rehabilitation of the 97-year-old International Coffee Company Building adjacent to Allen's Landing, turning it into a site bike, canoe and kayak rentals, dining and other activities."

"A great effort has been made to turn Houston's urban center into a more vital, attractive environment and destination."

"'Downtown has been transformed in the last 10 years with light rail and Discovery Park and major efforts by Buffalo Bayou Coalition (now Partnership) and landscaping of the roads,' says Stephen Klineberg, Rice sociology professor and director of the annual Houston Area Survey. 'Four-and-a-half-billion dollars have been spent over the last 10 years of public and private investment in downtown.'"