Memorial Groves restoration

Memorial Park previews new playground and visitor's center coming in 2027

Nearly a year after announcing the restoration of the old Camp Logan as Memorial Groves, a section of Memorial Park that honors Houston's World War I veterans, Memorial Park Conservancy (MPC) unveiled additional information on the new playground and visitor center that will be on site, as well as improvements to a walking trail. The new details come on the heels of a $7.5 million donation from the Jerold B. Katz Foundation.

“We are deeply honored to be a part of this landmark project that will help bring Houston’s extraordinary history to life,” said Evan H. Katz, president of the Jerold B. Katz Foundation, in a statement. “Memorial Groves will offer a powerful place of reflection and learning – one that thoughtfully connects past and present, honoring service and sacrifice while strengthening the park’s role as a resilient, vibrant public space for generations to come.”

The donation will help fund the Camp Logan Playground, an innovative space for children that will draw on aspects of World War I training. Kids can play in oversized soldier helmets, talk through a tube shaped like an old camp bugle, and climb over giant army crates and a reproduction of hardtack, the "hard bread" fed to soldiers at the front. Each feature has real World War I insignias carved into them, giving visitors a chance to learn about the symbolism of the war. Designed by the Canadian company Earthscape, the playground will be located near the southern parking lot within easy distance of the picnic pavilion.

The visitor center, designed by Moody Nolan, will be located at the primary entrance to the park on the north side. It will house both exhibit spaces and MCP offices. The former will educate visitors about Camp Logan and Houston's role in World War I. A large breezeway between the two areas will welcome visitors into Memorial Groves. The Texas Historical Commission will provide historical markers to supplement the exhibition materials.

There's lots to learn about. From 1917 to 1919, Camp Logan trained roughly 70,000 men for service in WWI. Some 200 women were also employed at the camp, mostly as nurses and physical therapists for the wounded. In 1918, Black soldiers stationed at Camp Logan rioted against abuse and unfair incarceration from the all-white Houston Police Department.

The park's 3-mile Seymour Lieberman Trail (SLT) will also be upgraded. Approximately .7 miles of the popular running/walking trail will be moved further away from Memorial Loop Drive to allow for planting of new trees. As they mature, the trees will provide more shade for people using the trail.

“Significant enhancements will be made to the SLT within the Memorial Groves project area while maintaining the overall distance of the 3-mile loop,” MPC president and CEO Chris Ballard said. “This is one of the nation’s most popular running trails and one of Memorial Park’s top amenities. The upgrades we’re making will be enjoyed by the nearly 10,000 people who use this trail daily.”

Construction on Memorial Groves is expected top begin this year and be finished in 2027. The total cost of the project is $50.5 million, as is funded in part by the Kinder Foundation ($10 million), John L. Nau III ($7.5 million), Brown Foundation ($7.5 million) and now the Katz Foundation ($7.5 million).

Rendering courtesy of Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects

Memorial Park's popular running trail will have more shade.

SUDDEN SHUTTERS

GameStop to close 11 Houston-area stores amid nationwide cuts

GameStop/ Facebook

Long lines for video game releases are a rarity these days.

For GameStop, it’s a blood bath right out of Mortal Kombat. The Grapevine-based video game chain is expected to shed 470 locations nationwide, including 11 in the greater Houston area.

The closures were revealed in the company's newest filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that said it would close "a significant number of additional stores in fiscal 2025" ending on January 31. In its last fiscal year, GameStop shuttered 590 locations.

In addition to braving the overall “retail apocalypse,” the retailer faces the same conditions that largely decimated CD and video stores. Video games are now available for digital download in seconds and no longer require a trip to a physical store.

“As a part of our profitability initiative, we are reducing our global store base, which includes closing stores that are not meeting performance standards or stores at the end of their lease terms with the intent of transferring sales to other nearby locations,” the company wrote in its annual report. “ If we are unsuccessful in marketing to customers of the stores that we plan to close or in transferring sales to nearby stores, our results of operations could be negatively impacted.”

The current digital squeeze isn’t the first time GameStop has been thrown for a loop by contemporary internet culture. In 2021, the retailer famously became a meme stock, buoyed by users of Reddit's r/wallstreetbets. The skyrocketing increase in its stock price, followed by short selling, caused major financial consequences for hedge funds and other investors.

Since then, the stock price has been more stable but has decreased approximately 21 percent over the last year. After CEO Ryan Cohen bought 500,000 shares in the company on January 21, the price has slightly rebounded.

GameStop has not issued a formal list of the closures, and a request for more information was not returned at press time. But Ohio’s WKYC Studios put together a list of all the U.S. stores that are on the chopping block, verified through GameStop’s online store locator. The Texas closings are as follows:

Allen – The Village at Allen, 170 E. Stacy Rd
Arlington – Little School Road Shops, 1245 N. Little School Rd
Austin – Ben White Payload Center, 500 E. Ben White Blvd
Balch Springs – Lake June Plaza, 12209 Lake June Rd
Boerne – Menger Crossing, 1375 S. Main St
Cedar Park – Lakeline Plaza, 11066 Pecan Park Blvd
Conroe – Conroe Center, 1231 N. Loop 336 W
Corpus Christi – Padre Island Drive, 1805 S. Padre Island Dr
Corsicana – Corsicana Marketplace, 3811 W. Highway 31
Dallas – Glen Oaks Crossing, 4787 Vista Wood Blvd
El Paso – Alameda Town Center, 9411 Alameda Ave
El Paso – Fountains at Farah, 8889 Gateway West Blvd
Fort Worth – Clifford Retail, 301 Clifford Center Dr
Garland – Ridgewood Village, 2930 S. First St
Houston – Beechnut Street Houston, 10100 Beechnut St
Houston – Bellaire Gessner Center, 8880 Bellaire Blvd
Houston – Market at Uvalde, 13706 East Fwy
Houston – Market Square, 13341 Westheimer Rd
Houston – Oxford Plaza, 10407 North Fwy
Houston – Royal Oaks, 11807 Westheimer Rd
Houston – Wayside Shopping Center, 900 S. Wayside Dr
Huntsville – Ravenwood Village, 245 Interstate 45 N
Irving – MacArthur Park, 7601 N. MacArthur Blvd
Lake Jackson – Lake Jackson Shopping Center, 121 Highway 332 W
La Marque – LaMarque Crossing, 6408 Interstate 45
Laredo – Laredo Crossing Shopping Center, 4415 S. Zapata Hwy
Leon Valley – 5601 Bandera Rd
Lubbock – 7th St Lubbock, 1803 Seventh St
Magnolia – Westwood Village, 33020 FM 2978 Rd
Mansfield – Mansfield Crossing, 1301 E. Debbie Ln
Marble Falls – Highland Lakes, 2400 US Highway 281
McKinney – Lake Forest Crossing, 4100 S. Lake Forest Dr
Mesquite – Town East Mall, 2050 Town East Mall
Mission – Shary Plaza, 808 S. Shary Rd
Palmhurst – Palmhurst Shopping Center, 4416 N. Conway Ave
Paris – Paris Corners, 3842 Lamar Ave
Saginaw – Cross Pointe Shopping Center, 1453 N. Saginaw Blvd
San Antonio – Alamo Quarry Market, E. 255 Basse Rd
San Antonio – Blanco Road, 7117 Blanco Rd
San Antonio – Huebner Oaks Center, 11745 W. I-10
San Antonio – Northwoods Phase III, 1742 N. Loop 1604 E
San Antonio – Walzem Plaza, 5366 Walzem Rd
Stephenville – Stephenville Shopping Center, 2811 W. Washington St
Sulphur Springs – Sulphur Springs Corners, 1707 S. Broadway St
Terrell – Terrell Corner, 1888 W. Moore Ave
Tyler – State Highway 64 Tyler, 3842 State Highway 64 W
Watauga – Watauga Town Crossing, 8004 Denton Hwy

video games retail closings