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    Big Ideas For 2015

    Big ideas for 2015: Four grand visions that will transform Houston, from new AstroWorld to a swimming hole

    Barbara Kuntz
    Barbara Kuntz
    Jan 4, 2015 | 1:24 pm

    Houston's always been a city with great big ideas, and the year 2015 will, no doubt, see more innovative plans proposed and carried out.

     

    Here are just a few very notable visions CultureMap covered in 2014 that are now overlapping into the New Year. We'll continue to follow the progress and update you on more details and results as they become available — as only 2015 will reveal.

     

     Houston Needs a Swimming Hole

     

    Just last month, social and business entrepreneurs Monte Large, Evan O'Neil and Jeff Kaplan proposed a natural and public swimming spot in the Bayou City. With more than 270 backers already making pledges in a Kickstarter effort, the campaign is running strong and is receiving waves of support from civic leaders and organizations, including the Buffalo Bayou Partnership, the Greater East End District, the city of Houston Sustainability Office and the Shell Center for Sustainability at Rice University.

     

    Joining the local trio is Sherwood Design Engineers, a leading international engineering firm that has expertise in water, parks and urban spaces and designed Google's Campus in Bay View. A swimming hole in Houston would join the ranks of the historic Bondi Iceberg in Sydney, Streets Beach in Brisband, and a handful of other international man-made swimming destinations.

     

    The first phase of the Houston project, to compile a feasibility to raise funds for construction, will be funded through the Kickstarter campaign that has raised $30,000.

     

     The New AstroWorld: Grand Texas Sports & Entertainment District

     

    This 630-acre development to be located along Highway 59 just north of the New Caney exit is still projecting a spring 2015 debut for the water park and end-of-year grand opening for the theme park. At the November 2013 announcement for Grand Texas, developer Monty Galland said the theme park is only a single component of a larger scheme that involves 450,000 square feet for retail and dining, multiple hotels, an RV area and a 6,000-seat stadium designed for minor league baseball games.

     

    As many as 1,600 construction workers are expected to be used during the building process, which began in January. Photos of small bulldozers clearing way for big construction equipment at the site have appeared on the Grand Texas Facebook page throughout the year. And by 2020, officials anticipate 4.5 million annual visitors to the theme park district.

     

    Remember: No Greazed Lightnin' is on the drawing board for Grand Texas, but five roller coasters are included. And also promised: No Disney price gouging.

     

     The Astrodome

     

    When Houston voters rejected a $217 million bond to transform the existing structure into a multipurpose special events center, the ultimate fate of the iconic stadium was left unknown. Then efforts to designate the "Eighth Wonder of the World" as a "state antiquities landmark" were delayed indefinitely by the Texas Historical Commission.

     

    Most recently, however, the prestigious Urban Land Institute presented an ambitious plan to renovate and repurpose the Astrodome and even dared Houstonians to make it happen. Pro-Astrodome Harris County Judge Ed Emmett gave this plan "almost 100 percent" chance of succeeding and awaits the final report, which is due within 90 days.

     

    The plan calls for an oak-lined promenade leading from the METRO light rail station on Fannin to the Astrodome, where a grand space could be used for a variety of functions including, but not limited to, a park, sustainable farm, farmer's market, festivals and museums with an educational component. The top area of the dome could include a viewing area as well as an Adventure Park, with zip-lining, hike-and-bike trails and indoor rock climbing.

     

     Memorial Park Long-Range Master Plan

     

    The final design for the city's beloved park goes before the Houston City Council for consideration in April. That proposal includes more than doubling bike and pedestrian trials to 50-plus miles as part of the $100 million makeover.

     

    Thomas Woltz, principal with Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects, has been highlighting the updates to the Memorial Park Long-Range Master Plan at many ongoing public input meetings hosted by the firm and key players. Woltz has explained the plans call for dedicating 8.5 miles for mountain bike trails, as well as 17 miles of paved walkways for bikers and pedestrians. These trails would take park enthusiasts over the proposed grass- and tree-covered land bridge spanning about 800 feet across Memorial Drive designed to reconnect Memorial Park's north and south sections.

     

    Funding for the project, estimated to take as long as 20 years, is coming from the Houston Parks and Recreation Department, the Uptown Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone and Memorial Park Conservancy. And looking at the proposals, the long-range goals are designed to bring Memorial Park back to a healthy state, with natural enhancements, and be second to none as one of the nation's largest urban green spaces.

     

    What's 20 years, when the McGovern Centennial Gardens in Hermann Park were just realized, even though the original 1924 master plan included this focal point for the green space?

     

    We'll keep you posted.

    Many people think Houston Needs a Swimming Hole, as more than 300 backers have pledged $30,000 to launch a feasibility study.

    Houston Needs A Swimming Hole! rendering of swimming hole with Houston skyine November 2014
      
    Houston Needs a Swimming Hole Facebook
    Many people think Houston Needs a Swimming Hole, as more than 300 backers have pledged $30,000 to launch a feasibility study.
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    long live the king

    University of Houston archaeologists discover 1,700-year-old Mayan tomb

    Jef Rouner
    Jul 10, 2025 | 3:30 pm
    University of Houston Caracol Belize archaeology
    Courtesy of Caracol Archaeological Project / University of Houston
    The tomb was found near Caana, the central complex of Caracol.

    Two University of Houston archaeologists have made scientific history with the discovery of a Mayan king's tomb in Belize.

    A UH team led by husband and wife scientists Arlen F. Chase and Diane Z. Chase made the discovery at Caracol — the largest Mayan archeological site in Belize, situated about 25 miles south of Xunantunich and the town of San Ignacio. Together with Belize's Institute of Archeology, as well as support from the Geraldine and Emory Ford Foundation and the KHR Family Fund, they uncovered the tomb of Caracol's founder, King Te K’ab Chaak. Their work used airborne light detection and ranging technology to uncover previously hidden roadways and structures that have been reclaimed by the jungle.

    The tomb was found at the base of a royal family shrine. The king, who ascended the throne in AD 331, lived to an advanced enough age that he no longer had teeth. His tomb held a collection of eleven pottery vessels, carved bone tubes, jadeite jewelry, a mosaic jadeite mask, Pacific spondylus shells, and various other perishable items. Pottery vessels found in the chamber depict a Maya ruler wielding a spear as he receives offerings from supplicants represented as deities; the figure of Ek Chuah, the Maya god of traders, surrounded by offerings; and bound captives, a motif also seen in two related burials. Additionally, two vessels had lids adorned with modeled handles shaped like coatimundi (pisote) heads. The coatimundi, known as tz’uutz’ in Maya, was later adopted by subsequent rulers of Caracol as part of their names.

    During the Classical Period, Caracol was one of the main hubs of the Mayan Lowlands and a covered an area bigger than that of present-day Belize City. Populations survived in the area for at least a thousand years before the city was abandoned sometime around 900 CE. The royal dynasty established by Te K’ab Chaak continued at Caracol for over 460 years.

    The find is also significant because this was roughly when the Mexican city of Teotihuacan made contact with Caracol, leading to a long relationship of trade and cultural exchange. Cremation sites found in Caracol contain items that would have come from Teotihuacan, showing the relationship between the two distant cities.

    "Both central Mexico and the Maya area were clearly aware of each other’s ritual practices, as reflected in the Caracol cremation," said Arlen F. Chase, professor and chair of Comparative Cultural Studies at the University of Houston. “The connections between the two regions were undertaken by the highest levels of society, suggesting that initial kings at various Maya cities — such as Te K’ab Chaak at Caracol — were engaged in formal diplomatic relationships with Teotihuacan.”

    University of Houston Caracol Belize archaeology
      

    Courtesy of Caracol Archaeological Project / University of Houston

    The tomb was found near Caana, the central complex of Caracol.

    The Chases will present their findings at a conference on Maya–Teotihuacan interaction hosted by the Maya Working Group at the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico in August 2025.

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