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AUGUST | PAGE 20 | 2014 PHOTOGRAPHY JACK THOMPSON. PHOTO ASSISTANT JENNY ANTILL. ART DIRECTION MICHELLE AVIÑA. GROOMING TONYA RIDER FOR BEAUTY FOR REAL. T ALK ABOUT A HEDGE FUND. MEMORIAL PARK'S VERDANT 1,503 ACRES — DOUBLE THE SIZE OF CENTRAL PARK — COMPRISE 7 PERCENT OF ALL PARK LAND IN HOUSTON, MAKING IT ONE OF THE MOST USED GREEN SPACES IN THE CITY. CATHERINE D. ANSPON WALKS THE WOODS WITH RENOWNED LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT THOMAS WOLTZ, WHO, ALONG WITH HIS TEAM, WILL TRANSFORM ONE OF AMERICA'S GREAT URBAN PARKS, AS IT TURNS 90 — AND PREPARES FOR ITS SECOND CENTURY. WOLTZ IN THE WILDS MEMORIAL PARK'S METAMORPHOSIS Memorial Park sits on a very prime swatch of land. Bisecting the tony Uptown, Tanglewood and Memorial neighborhoods and the old-guard enclave of River Oaks, its value exceeds $1 billion — and that's a conservative estimate. Four million annually tread its shady paths or partake in a sporting, picnicking, cycling, kayaking or other alfresco activity. But this does not convey the wonders of the primal property's unique amalgamation of forest, meadow and wetlands. Manmade splendors range from the award-winning golf course (a WPA initiative designed by John Bredemus in 1934 and recognized as one of the finest municipal 18-holes in the country) to the Arboretum and the park's charmingly secluded sylvan trails. Intriguing programs educate schoolchildren about the park's flora and fauna, which include 85 diverse mammals, amphibians, reptiles and fish; 102 types of trees, shrubs and vines; and 167 avian species — a bird-watcher's dream. But the park does not take care of itself. It demands a gardener — a role fulfilled by the staff and board of Memorial Park Conservancy, the Houston Parks and Recreation Department and the Uptown TIRZ (Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone), which annexed the park in 2013 to grow its bottom line. The catastrophic drought in 2011 saw the loss of thousands of trees — approximately half of the park's arbol population. This devastation was the catalyst for a bold mission to eradicate the invasive, non-native species choking the forest floor, thus clearing the smothering thicket and reforesting this past spring with 90,000 seedlings representing original regional species such as post oak, sweet gum, sycamore, loblolly pine (which gives this park its beautiful canopy) and bald cypress. Tapped by the MPC as the steward of the new master plan (and embarking upon it this July after a six-month, six-figure study that involved extensive community feedback) is one of the most watched landscape architects on the planet: Thomas Woltz and his firm, Nelson Byrd Woltz (NBW). This sensitive international practice, known for fostering a nuanced narrative regarding traditions of the land, offices in Charlottesville, Virginia; Manhattan; and San Francisco. The firm has earned more than 80 prestigious awards, including Design Innovator of the Year from Wall Street Journal (for principal Woltz). NBW's portfolio ranges from Manhattan's epic Hudson Yards to a park in Auckland, New Zealand, that incorporates elements of indigenous Maori culture. Woltz and colleagues include senior project manager Thomas Woltz surveys the scene from a grand post oak, one of Memorial Park's signature species. Landscape architect Thomas Woltz, principal of Nelson Byrd Woltz — the firm that will cultivate and collaborate on Memorial Park's new master plan