Bob Perry donates $100K for 11th Street Park

So here's something kinda interesting about the news earlier this week that most of the West 11th Street Park will be saved from development: The Chronicle reports that Bob Perry, who has spent the last few years trying to cover the inner Loop with townhomes, gave $100,000 Wednesday to try to preserve the rest of the property.

On Monday, the city agreed to buy the site from HISD, which has owned the wooded land for years but never developed it. Local residents have used the land as a park since the 1950s and were dismayed when the school district declared it surplus in 2004, opening the door to a sale to private developers who might build high-density housing — the kind Perry is known for — there. But even with Perry's check, the park's supporters are still about $3.5 million short of the $9.2 million needed to buy the 20 acres. If all the money isn't raised, the Houston Parks Board has arranged for a loan for the city — but paying it off would require the sale of five acres. "If they develop those five acres, it's going to terribly, negatively impact the remaining 15 acres," Jere Luck, whose house faces the park, said. "That's the scary part."

City Councilwoman Toni Lawrence said she's not giving up on raising the $9.2 mil: "I don't have the attitude that we're not going to make it and we have to take out this loan," she said, adding that several high rollers are planning to organize a fundraising event to help the effort. "As density increases inside the Loop, we're going to have a lot of development, and every bit of green space is going to matter," Lawrence said. Hey, it must be true if Bob Perry believes it.