Club Creek Park & Houston Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Devising solutions to reduce flood impact on the site due to its flat topography, proximity to Brays Bayou, and vulnerability to storm events constituted the project’s primary goal. 

Since the site was part of an area that lacked sufficient public green space, the design needed to incorporate open recreational spaces while ensuring they would remain accessible during floods and storm events. 

Rectifying slope failures along Brays Bayou was crucial to the project’s water management goals, and this involved coordinating with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE).

The project’s scope included designing the support structures for a memorial for Vietnam war veterans, which needed to have universal access and serve as a point of convergence for the community.

Building time-variable hydraulic models helped us develop and test three detention basin configurations. After careful analysis, we settled on a scheme with a 6.7-foot-deep wet bottom amenity pond and a 60-foot concrete trapezoidal weir outlet structure connected to brays Bayou.

By placing placed playgrounds, fitness stations, picnic areas, and meadows on the terraced slopes around the basin’s wetland shelf, and incorporating outlets for excess water during floods, we ensured accessibility even in extreme weather.

Walter P Moore worked with USACE to conduct 950 feet of repairs for slope failures along Brays Bayou, including a 136-foot-wide concrete overflow weir/emergency spillway and a 24-inch storm sewer outfall pipe from the detention basin.

We worked on the plaza design, base light pole foundations, and seat walls of the memorial plaza, taking care to ensure that the structure was ADA compliant. We also placed it above the park’s 100-year floodplain elevation to ensure it would be accessible during floods.

The park’s use of native plantings and reforestation helps mitigate the urban heat island effect and improve air quality while the basin’s stormwater detention capacity supports the resilience of Brays Bayou and permits future Capital City projects to occur downstream. 

The Club Creek Park & Houston Vietnam Veteran Memorial combines flood protection with recreational space that is connected to the Brays Bayou Greenway Trail System to encourage walking, biking, and healthier lifestyles.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial plaza has become a unifying landmark in the community, featuring a granite sculpture designed by sculptor Tory Kelley, which bears the names of 543 service members who lost their lives in the war.