Property owners and residents along the east end of Buffalo Bayou are invited to participate in a fourm to discuss plans for undeveloped green space in the area.

The June 26 meeting is at Ripley House, 4410 Navigation.

It will begin with a breakfast, sponsored by Trammel Crow Co., with registration at 8:30 a.m. The Buffalo Bayou East End Greenspace Workshop is from 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m. It's sponsored by The Buffalo Bayou Partnership, city of Houston Parks and Recreation Department and other community groups.

"The meeting was initiated at the behest of Mayor (Bill) White, who was anxious to get community input on city-owned open space along the bayou . The partnership owns about 40 acres along the bayou that we will eventually turn into park land as well," said Winifred Riser, director of community relations for the partnership.

Riser said although the bayou is the focal point of the area, other green space or potential green space could be tied into the plans, which could ultimately result in an extensive green belt extending out from the bayou .

Alan Atkinson, developer and former partnership board member, said most Houston residents have never even seen most of the waterway being discussed.

"It's a real waterway. The water itself is a huge amenity. It's much deeper and wider than the part of the bayou people see (along Memorial). It has Ospreys, birds with 6-feet wing spans feeding along it," said Atkinson.

Atkinson, who owns warehouse property along the east end, has led private landowners abutting the bayou in an effort to put in hike-and-bike trails in keeping with the partnership's master plan.

"We started on the west side at McKee Street, north of the baseball stadium and have a little over 2 miles done, heading east," said Atkinson.

Amenities that have been proposed or discussed range from an aquatic center, so that small boat users such as the Rice Rowing Team could have access to the waterway, to a permanent entertainment venue for city sponsored concerts and events such as the annual 4th of July celebration and the International Festival.

Other possible open space amenities proposed include soccer fields, playgrounds, a wildlife habitat, picnic tables, trials, gardens, boating and fishing facilities, and art and performance space.

The fourm is related to the nonprofit Buffalo Bayou Partnership, which two years ago unveiled a master plan for Buffalo Bayou from Memorial Park to the Ship Channel. Organizers had a vision of drawing the city back to the hub of which it was founded.

It's a modern-day reinvention of the central stream of Buffalo Bayou that first fueled commerce in Houston.

The plan is expected to be phased in over 20 years with $800 million in public and private funding. The first phase began in April with an official groundbreaking for a site called the Sabine to Bagby Park, the "anchor" project just west of downtown.

Plans for the east side of the bayou are sketchier, with a list of possibilities that seemingly could last the length of the waterway.

From Allen's Landing, the spot where Houston began, eastward to the Ship Channel Turning Basin, Buffalo Bayou remains largely unseen, unused and undeveloped. Warehouses and cotton gins, many abandoned, reflect a time when railroads moved commerce.

To RSVP for the workshop, call the Buffalo Bayou Partnership at 713-752-0314 or email wriser@buffalobayou.org.

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GREENSPACE WORKSHOP

What: Public discussion on the future of Houston's eastern Buffalo Bayou

When: 8:30 a.m., June 26

Where: Ripley House, 4410 Navigation

For more information, call Buffalo Bayou Partnership at 713-752-0314 or email wriser@buffalobayou.org.