School lands to neighborhood parks

Describes SPARK, a program in Houston, Texas to develop neighborhood parks on public school grounds. [UMN]

"Parks and recreation space are great assets of a world class city. In 1983, the Green Ribbon Committee, a prestigious panel appointed by the Mayor and County to assess Houstons parks, reported that Houston would need at least 5,000 acres of additional park land in order to compare favorably with other U.S. cities. The SPARK program, based on one of the ideas in the final report, develops neighborhood parks on public school grounds. Using available public land is a fast and cost effective way to increase park acreage. Our goal is to create and finish selected park sites in twelve to eighteen months." [Abstract]

[September 17-20, 2003, San Antonio, Texas]