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News

Find the latest news about Buffalo Bayou Partnership and all the doings along Buffalo Bayou.

May 10

Buffalo Bayou Park Cistern opens to the public on May 13

Buffalo Bayou Partnership transforms historic former underground drinking water reservoir into a public space

Commissioned art work, Down Periscope to be unveiled

HOUSTON – May 10, 2016 – Buffalo Bayou Partnership (BBP) will debut the Buffalo Bayou Park Cistern, a renovated architectural relic, on Friday, May 13, 2016. The Cistern, reminiscent of the ancient Roman cisterns under Istanbul, is a cavernous space the size of 1.5 football fields featuring 221, 25-foot tall, slender concrete columns. Visitors can make online reservations to tour this unique space at buffalobayou.org. Admission is $2 per person for a 30-minute docent-led tour.

The 87,500-square-foot underground drinking water reservoir was built in 1926 for the City of Houston and supported the municipal water system’s goals of fire suppression (water pressure) and drinking water storage. After operating for decades, an irreparable leak was discovered in the mid-2000s and the reservoir was later decommissioned.

BBP re-discovered the site in 2011 when it was developing the $58 million Buffalo Bayou Park project. Realizing the historical and architectural significance of the highly unusual space, the organization along with the City of Houston, worked to take over management of the site. With research, 3-D modeling of the interior by SmartGeoMetrics, and community input, BBP developed a plan to repurpose the Cistern not just into a magnificent public space but one to house temporary, environmental art installations. BBP secured grants of over $1.7 million from The Brown Foundation, Inc. to bring the space up to code, make it accessible to the public, and ultimately house temporary art installations. Architecture and engineering firm, Page, was charged with designing a ground-level entry structure to help transition visitors from the outside world to the Cistern and making improvements to the shelf on the perimeter of the space to create a 6-foot wide accessible walkway with guardrails.

“Buffalo Bayou Partnership is excited to be opening the Cistern to the public. We have had incredible interest and now we will be able to share the site’s beauty and uniqueness with Houstonians and visitors to our city. We think it is so special that it will attract attention from throughout the country and abroad,” says BBP President Anne Olson.

As the architect for the cistern improvements, Page Senior Principal Larry Speck said, “Descending into The Cistern the first time was like discovering some ancient ruin. It was so strange and exotic in the setting and clearly ‘lost’ to people’s consciousness. That vast field of columns, the reflective layer of water on the floor and the tiny bits of light creeping in from above were really beautiful.”

The Buffalo Bayou Park Cistern will be open on Thursdays and Fridays from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. and on Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $2 per person for a 30-minute docent-led tour, with free admission on Thursdays.

Another aspect of experiencing the Cistern will be through New York artist Donald Lipski’s Down Periscope, which is also being unveiled. The installation, commissioned by Houston Arts Alliance in partnership with the City of Houston Department of Public Works and Engineering, sits atop the Cistern on The Brown Foundation Lawn and allows park and online visitors (www.houstonperiscope.com) to peer into the periscope and view the Cistern.

Visit buffalobayou.org to purchase Cistern tour tickets. Note some rules apply.

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About Buffalo Bayou Partnership

Created in 1986, Buffalo Bayou Partnership is the 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization transforming and revitalizing Buffalo Bayou, Houston’s most significant natural resource. Buffalo Bayou Partnership maintains and operates Buffalo Bayou Park with funding of $2 million per year provided by the Downtown Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ) #3. For more information, visit www.buffalobayou.org.

Media Contacts:

Trudi Smith, tsmith@buffalobayou.org

Claudia Morlan, claudia@elmorepr.com

For press inquiries, email Karen Farber, BBP VP of External Affairs, or call 713.752.0314 ext. 353.

News Coverage

  • 2021 Was . . . ? These Works of Art Help Make Sense of It. Texas Monthly, December 22, 2021
  • Six Art Galleries in Unexpected Places Smithsonian Magazine, December 15, 2021
  • Houston's best runs: 8 beautiful places to get fit and enjoy nature Houston Chronicle, December 9, 2021
  • Single for the holidays? Celebrate in style at these 13 Houston events Houston Chronicle, December 3, 2021
  • Texas bats eat thousands of pounds of insects nightly Victoria Advocate, November 18, 2021
  • These Simple Design Schemes Can Help Combat Climate Change for Coastal Cities Architectural Digest, November 18, 2021
  • On Crisp Fall Night, Friends of Buffalo Bayou Gather Outdoors to Toast Riverside Development Houston City Book, November 16, 2021
  • Protecting Houston’s Historic Waterways — Buffalo Bayou Partnership Parties Through the Cold Paper City, November 8, 2021
  • Underwater Works YOLO TV, October 8, 2021
  • We’re Going Batty: Bat-Watching in the Bayou City The Buzz, October 7, 2021
more

Press Releases

  • Light Up the Night Along Buffalo Bayou East March 15, 2022
  • Buffalo Bayou Partnership’s Time No Longer Wins International Art Award September 22, 2021
  • Three Houston Parks Team Up to Celebrate the Legacy of Jazz in Houston with Free Concerts and a Series Spectacular Featuring Mavis Staples August 6, 2021
  • Houston Endowment Awards Buffalo Bayou Partnership $10M Grant December 9, 2020
  • Immersive Installation by Anri Sala in the Buffalo Bayou Park Cistern November 23, 2020
  • Houston Celebrates Texas Arbor Day by planting 600 trees at Buffalo Bend Nature Center November 10, 2020
  • Carmen Herrera: Estructuras Monumentales (En Español) September 28, 2020
  • A “musical scavenger hunt” with ROCO and Buffalo Bayou Partnership September 21, 2020
  • Artful Anniversary: A series of virtual and visual arts events through the month of October to celebrate 5 Years of Buffalo Bayou Park September 10, 2020
  • Carmen Herrera: Estructuras Monumentales September 3, 2020
more

Monthly Newsletters

  • Buffalo Bayou eNewsletter - May 2022 May 4, 2022
  • Buffalo Bayou eNewsletter - April 2022 April 6, 2022
  • Buffalo Bayou eNewsletter - March 2022 March 2, 2022
  • Buffalo Bayou eNewsletter - February 2022 February 2, 2022
  • Buffalo Bayou eNewsletter - January 2022 January 11, 2022
  • Buffalo Bayou eNewsletter - December 2021 December 2, 2021
  • Buffalo Bayou eNewsletter - November 2021 November 1, 2021
  • Buffalo Bayou eNewsletter - October 2021 October 8, 2021
  • Buffalo Bayou eNewsletter - September 2021 September 1, 2021
  • Buffalo Bayou eNewsletter - August 2021 August 4, 2021
more

Banking on Buffalo Bayou

  • Banking on Buffalo Bayou - Summer 2021 June 2021
  • Banking on Buffalo Bayou - Winter 2020 January 2020
  • Banking on Buffalo Bayou - Spring 2019 May 2019
  • Banking on Buffalo Bayou - Winter 2019 January 2019
  • Banking on Buffalo Bayou - Summer 2018 July 2018
  • Banking on Buffalo Bayou - Summer 2017 August 2017
  • Banking on Buffalo Bayou - Spring 2017 March 2017
  • Banking on Buffalo Bayou - Winter 2016 December 2016
  • Banking on Buffalo Bayou - Summer 2016 July 2016
  • Banking on Buffalo Bayou - Spring 2016 March 2016
more

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