Twenty Years, Twenty Stories
ASLA + NPS Partnership: Tony Becerra Park/Brazos River Paddle Trail
Fort Bend County, Texas, 2019
Fort Bend County, Texas, a growing and vibrant community southwest of Houston, has made recent headlines, landing on “best of the best” lists in categories such as job growth, cultural diversity, and community amenities. A recognized and celebrated part of the local quality of life is the Brazos River, which runs through the center of the county. Growing community concern for the future of the region, and interest in protecting the Brazos River for future generations, led to the development of the Brazos River Recreation Master Plan in 2014, facilitated by NPS-RTCA. One of the highest priority actions in the Recreation Master Plan was the development of a Paddle Trail along the Brazos River as it flows through Fort Bend County.
In 2016, the Houston-Gulf Coast Section of the Texas Chapter of ASLA partnered with the NPS-RTCA program and local governments to host a design charrette. A dozen landscape architects volunteered to help brainstorm design and construction options for three canoe/kayak launch sites. The architects then took the concepts from the charrette and created more detailed designs and renderings for use in preparing construction plans and cost estimates, which local jurisdictions are utilizing to prioritize capital improvement plans.