Parks and Recreation
Downtown Aquarium, Houston is a must see for any visitor of Downtown Houston and is located at 410 Bagby Street. The Aquarium houses over 200 species of aquatic life and 1 white tiger. The Downtown Aquarium also has amusement park games, rides, and 2 full service Landry's restaurants.
Sam Houston Park, on the western edge of downtown between McKinney and Dallas/Allen Parkway, is home to the Houston Heritage Society and a collection of historic buildings and homes from around Houston.
Tranquility Park, bound by Rusk, Smith, Walker, and Bagby, uses open green spaces and a series of interconnected fountains to commemorate NASA's landing on the moon's Sea of Tranquility.
Market Square Park, between Travis, Milam, Preston, and Congress, preserves the block formerly covered by Houston's open air market which fronted the old City Hall. In August 2010, Market Square Park unveiled renovations complete with two dog runs, Niko Niko's at Market Square, and Houston's only 9/11 memorial.
Hermann Park, located between Fannin, Cambridge, and Main Street, is home to numerous cultural institutions including the Houston Zoo, Houston Garden Center, Miller Outdoor Theatre, Houston Museum of Natural Science, the Japanese Garden, and the Hermann Park Golf Course. It is within walking distance of the Texas Medical Center, the Museum District, and Rice University. The land which it occupies was presented to the City of Houston by George H. Hermann in 1914.
Allen's Landing, on Buffalo Bayou at Smith and Preston, commemorates the landing site of the Allen Brothers, founders of the City of Houston.
Sesquicentennial Park, across Buffalo Bayou from Allen's Landing, contains a statue of George H.W. Bush, Houstonian and 41st President of United States.
Main Street Square, a pedestrian mall with a reflection pool and fountains on the MetroRail line between Lamar and Dallas.
Root Memorial Square, a one-block park across La Branch St from the Toyota Center.
Sisters of Charity Park, a quiet area in St. Joseph's Medical Center in the southeast corner of downtown.
Discovery Green, west of the George R. Brown Convention Center, officially opened on April 13, 2008 with a Family Day event. The park has underground parking, an amphitheater, two restaurants, a dog run, a jogging trail around the park, a great Lawn, an interactive fountain and more.
Harris County Precinct One operates the 2-acre (8,100 m2) Quebedeaux Park at 1115 Congress Street. The park includes a stage area, picnic tables, and benches. The park surrounds the Harris County Family Law Center.
The Downtown YMCA is located at 1600 Louisiana Street. The Tellepsen facility includes a center for teenagers, a wellness center for females, a child watch area, a community meeting space, a chapel, group exercise rooms, and a racquetball court. The groundbreaking ceremony occurred on January 7, 2009. The new facility will not have dormitories for homeless that exist in the current YMCA facility. The Downtown YMCA had provided dormitory space for around 100 years.
Read more about this topic: Downtown Houston
Famous quotes containing the words parks and, parks and/or recreation:
“Perhaps our own woods and fields,—in the best wooded towns, where we need not quarrel about the huckleberries,—with the primitive swamps scattered here and there in their midst, but not prevailing over them, are the perfection of parks and groves, gardens, arbors, paths, vistas, and landscapes. They are the natural consequence of what art and refinement we as a people have.... Or, I would rather say, such were our groves twenty years ago.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Perhaps our own woods and fields,—in the best wooded towns, where we need not quarrel about the huckleberries,—with the primitive swamps scattered here and there in their midst, but not prevailing over them, are the perfection of parks and groves, gardens, arbors, paths, vistas, and landscapes. They are the natural consequence of what art and refinement we as a people have.... Or, I would rather say, such were our groves twenty years ago.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Playing snooker gives you firm hands and helps to build up character. It is the ideal recreation for dedicated nuns.”
—Archbishop Luigi Barito (b. 1922)