138: Why Houstonians Love Hermann Park—And What’s New This Year

Looking for the perfect outdoor escape in the heart of Houston? In this episode of Spotlight Houston, host Blanca Quezada sits down with Kyle Wolfe, Chief Operating Officer of Hermann Park Conservancy, to explore one of Houston’s most iconic and beloved green spaces: Hermann Park.

Kyle walks us through the park’s incredible journey since its founding in 1914. He shares how the park has evolved to serve the growing needs of Houstonians, from the creation of The Commons—an award-winning, multi-generational play space—to the restoration of the Reflection Pool and expanded trails and picnic areas.

Listeners will also hear about must-see attractions like the Hermann Park Railroad, pedal boats on McGovern Lake, the carousel, and the Japanese and Centennial Gardens. Kyle also talks about community involvement, volunteer opportunities, and how memberships help support the park’s maintenance and programming.

Whether you're planning a peaceful walk, a family picnic, or a fun day out with kids, this episode gives you everything you need to know about enjoying all 445 acres of Hermann Park.

For more info visit: https://hermannpark.org

Key Topics Covered:

• The history and founding of Hermann Park
• How the park connects to the Texas Medical Center
• Hermann Park’s master plan and conservancy partnership
• The Commons: gardens, splash features, and play spaces
• The Japanese Garden and McGovern Centennial Gardens
• The Hermann Park Railroad, carousel, and pedal boats
• Miller Outdoor Theatre and community programming
• Volunteer programs and membership perks
• Planning events, picnics, and private celebrations in the park

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Host: Blanca Quezada

Guest: Kyle Wolfe, Chief Operating Officer, Hermann Park Conservancy

Original Air Date: Monday, May 19, 2025

Episode Number: 138

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
As I mentioned, the the first twenty year master plan had completed. We started
immediately after that, planning for the next twenty years. And one of those very
beginning phases was developing this area called the commons. And the
commons was meant to be a multigenerational effort attraction.
And this 26 acre site includes play gardens, and I
wanna stress the gardens aspect of it. We don't like to say playgrounds around

(00:22):
here because Yeah. They truly are beautiful gardens where
children are able to play. They have experiential learning
in them. The one of the play gardens is really focused
on these, like, bespoke play elements that like a giant
rocket ship slide. They're Oh, cool. Very beautiful
dragonfly. And you even one of the play toys looks like

(00:45):
one of Houston toad, one of our native amphibians.
There's musical instruments throughout it too that the children just love to
go and play and dance on and just have a blast.
Thank you for joining us for another episode of Spotlight Houston, where we bring

(01:05):
you the best people, places, and events in Greater Houston. Today's episode
is all about one of Houston's most loved green spaces, Hermann
Park. Our guest is Kyle Wolf, chief operating
officer of the Hermann Park Conservancy. He shares the park's
history, new features, and why it's a favorite for both locals and
visitors. We talk about train rides, pedal boats, splash

(01:27):
areas, and beautiful gardens. Call also tells us about volunteer
options, membership perks, and how you can plan your own event
at the park. This is episode one thirty eight with an original air
date of Monday, 05/19/2025. Please note that
we edited the the episode for time. Spotlight Houston is brought to you by
STORYZONE Media. And now here's your host, Blanca Quesada.

(01:49):
After stressing out all day at work or from whatever you're
doing, the kids running around, whatever,
we all need to find a way to relax. Right? So
we try to look for a quiet and beautiful space to
enjoy, just ourselves, lots of peace.
And a lot of us, we appreciate nature. Right?

(02:12):
But you can even take the kids to this particular place
and enjoy yourself with the peace and quiet, and
let the kids just run around and yelling and do whatever
kids do. And just enjoy your time
at this park. And you already
know that Houston has several gorgeous green

(02:34):
spaces that every city needs.
So our public parks have been designed
with something for people of all ages to do and to
experience. And when I was a kid,
my favorite park was Hermann Park, especially the
hill. I love rolling down that hill. And I'm sure that

(02:57):
a lot of you have probably done that as well and can remember.
But it brings back a lot of fun memories. And to this day, it's
still my favorite place to go because
it has so much to offer for people of all
ages, and it's always been the place to go for years and
years. The grounds have expanded now,

(03:19):
and the park has just gotten much more amazing. And
it's now considered a destination to visit
if you're visiting Houston. To find out more
about Hermann Park, I've invited Kyle
Wolf. He's the chief operating officer
for Hermann Park Conservancy. Hi, Kyle. Welcome to

(03:42):
Spotlight Houston. Hi, Blanca. Thank you so much for having
me here today, and and I'm so happy to talk to you about Hermann Park.
It's great to have you here because one thing I didn't mention was that summer
is coming up. And even right now, it's so hot,
and kids just wanna get out of the house and have a good
time. And so parents sometimes don't know what to do with them,

(04:04):
and I think Hermann Park is the best place to go. And we tend
to take to sorry. So we tend to
take parks for granted, but we really
shouldn't. So I want everybody to
know what happens behind the scenes to create
and maintain such a beautiful green space.

(04:27):
But before we discuss everything about the park,
would you please give us a little bit of its history? Because as
I mentioned earlier, it's been around for a very long time.
Absolutely. Hermann Park was a gift to the city of Houston
by a gentleman named George Hermann back in 1914.
Hermann Park is actually one of the second oldest park in the Houston

(04:50):
Parks and Recreationals department system, and, it is home
to a number of partners. I know a lot of people are familiar
with Houston Zoo, Houston Museum of Natural Science, of course, Miller
Outdoor Theater. And, then re as in in
recent decades, of course, we've added a Japanese garden. There's McGovern
Centennial Gardens. Just last year, we finished on our big

(05:13):
project called the Commons. I'll talk a little bit more about that later on
as well. And there's wonderful things to do in the park too. The the
Hermit Park Railroad has existed for over seventy years now in Hermit
Park. And I know a lot of people have wonderful memories on that. I
do. In addition to the railroad, we've now
added a carousel with these wonderful little native

(05:34):
wildlife characters that are on it. We have the the pedal
boats that you're able to go out and enjoy the McGovern Lake and
really see up close and personal the wildlife, the wonderful ducks
that everyone talks about and such too. Yeah. But the Hermann part,
it's over a hundred years old now. It the original master plan
was developed by a gentleman named George Kessler.

(05:57):
And that master plan, it somewhat kinda
set on the back burner for a long time. And it wasn't until
really in the mid nineties, '19 '90 '5, where there was we commissioned
in another master plan effort through, a gentleman named
Olin. And that was our, a twenty year
master plan that the conservancy was able to institute. And

(06:20):
Kyle, why was mister Hermann so generous,
and why would he want to gift all this
space to the city? It
one of the things is that he was quite quite the generous man already. He
had us created a a a strong amount
of wealth for himself and stuff too. And, he is and along

(06:43):
with some of his friends had really wanted to further develop this area
of Houston and wanted to give back. One of the things that
he was particularly interested in was creating a a
green space for Houstonians and been tying that into health.
And that's the reason why that you see the current medical center that is here
in Hermann Park too. A lot of people don't even realize it, but as

(07:05):
the significant portion of where the medical
center is currently was actually part of Hermann Park at one
point. Oh, wow. I didn't know that. Yeah. It's nowadays,
if you look at Hermann Park, you might be asking yourself, like, why aren't
there baseball fields or soccer fields, things like that?
On that Olin master plan or I'm sorry. Not the Olin, but on

(07:27):
the George Chesler master plan, he had actually outlined
recreational activities like swimming pools and tennis courts and things like
that, where the current Memorial Hermann Hospital is at and the
other medical institutions that are surrounding you.
Wow. Wow. But, also, I guess, at the time,
I mean, 1914, that the park would

(07:50):
have been the place