11th Street park still in jeopardy

A month ago, we were excited that the city agreed to pitch in $9.2 million to help save 11th Street Park in Timbergrove Manor from destruction. The deal is far from over, though: if the 3.5 million-dollar loan from Amegy Bank to the Houston Parks Board isn’t paid off in the next 12 months, a fourth of the park will be available to developers.

The portion of the park that is in jeopardy includes baseball fields used by the Timbergrove Sports Association, which has chairman Russell Baumbach concerned:

"As development continues to occur in and around Timbergrove, baseball fields that we have been able to use for practices are continuing to be reduced. This has an impact in the baseball product that we are able to offer our local youth," Baumbach said. "The West 11th Street Park has always been able to offer Timbergrove Sports Association a baseball practice field venue. If this was lost, it would jeopardize our ability to provide local practice fields to support the needs of our league."

Luckily, the park has many supporters, including the mayor, council member Toni Lawrence and even developer Bob Perry, who donated $100,000 to the preservation cause last month. The non-profit group Friends of the West 11th Street Park is looking for help to pay off the loan as soon as possible.

Photo: Houston Parks Board