Completed in 2013 by landscape architecture firm, White Oak Studio, groundbreaking Bethel Park is located in Houston's historic Fourth Ward (known as Freedmen's Town). Bethel Missionary Baptist Church was founded in the late 1880s by former slave, Reverend Jack Yates. The current building, built in 1923 and updated in 1949, was a center of local African-American society for decades; it was largely destroyed by fire in 2005. Both Bethel Church and Freedmen's Town are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. After the fire, the City of Houston acquired the Bethel property to preserve the historic building walls and create a public park. Today, the masonry perimeter walls remain, integrated into a unique and moving open-air neighborhood park (.4 acres) that celebrates Bethel Church heritage, the African-American community, and the resilience of the human spirit.

Landscape Architect's Role
The Landscape Architect was the prime consultant, leading a team including architects, engineers and masonry restoration specialists for four years from conceptual design through construction. The Landscape Architect created the vision of 'sacred space' within the remnant walls - steel columns set in from the walls to suggest a traditional church nave, with gabled trusses towering above, reflecting the majestic front building fa???????ade. The Landscape Architect brought those sacred references to the ground plane within the church walls and created connection through the south church wall to the park space beyond.

The city tasked the Landscape Architect with developing a vision for integrating the crumbling, dangerous ruins of the building walls into a safe, beautiful, sustainable public park. The Landscape Architect was integrally involved in all aspects of the project, working with the architect and engineers to ensure structural aspects of the project were purposefully integrated into the project aesthetic vision. The Landscape Architect was also responsible for all site design, hardscape and landscape.

Role of Other Consultants
The architect provided detailed design for fa???????ade renovations, fa???????ade lighting, and window infill panels and collaborated on design for the gabled steel framework. One structural engineer was responsible for masonry diagnostics, temporary wall stabilization and permanent wall restoration and structural design. A second structural engineering firm focused on design for the steel support structure and window infill. Civil engineers, electrical engineers, irrigation consultants and graphic designers were involved as well.

Design Narrative
Bethel Park is located along narrow streets in the dense Fourth Ward neighborhood. The park opens up to three surrounding streets, while a high wood fence provides privacy for two adjoining townhouses. The 5,000 square foot open-air space surrounded by the historic church walls anchors the north end of the park, with the magnificent late Gothic-Revival fa???????ade greeting visitors from Andrews Street. Massive galvanized steel columns and gable-shaped trusses create a dramatic sense of cathedral height. This steel framework braces the remaining church walls with outriggers extending to plates mounted to the stabilized structural masonry. The columns are set in from the walls to create traditional aisles outside the main nave. Window openings are filled with ornamental galvanized steel framework and colored polycarbonate panels with colors selected from photos of the church stained-glass windows. The central lawn is synthetic turf to accommodate heavy use and limited sunlight. Surrounding walks combine simple, etched concrete with red clay pavers that recall the neighborhood brick streets paved by the early 20th century African-American community. Interpretive panels mounted along the inside face of the building walls tell the story of Bethel Church, Rev. Jack Yates, the local community and overall African-American social/political progress.

 
The south building wall is largely cut away and filled with a high, open framework of ornamental steel and polycarbonate panels, silhouetted against the sky and creating beautiful, colored shadow patterns on the white plaster walls and ground plane. Tree-lined walks surround an open lawn panel that echoes the lawn within the building walls. The brick and limestone seat walls continue along these walks to create a sense of continuity throughout. Native trees and ground cover make up a simple plant palette: Southern Sugar Maple, Fringe Tree, Redbud and Shumard Red Oak along with Dwarf Wax Myrtle, American Beauty Berry, Berkley Sedge and Ruellia.

Resolution of the Project Program
Bethel Park successfully resolves all aspects of the project program:

• The historic church fa???????ade is stabilized, preserved for future generations and available to the public.

• The park commemorates and celebrates the African-American community of the Fourth Ward, re-purposing an important architectural landmark and incorporating historic/cultural interpretation into the park experience. The designed forms and materials of the park reflect both the historic architecture and the religious community that worshipped here.

Archeological excavations within the church walls revealed foundations of two earlier church buildings (c. 1891 and c. 1900) and the baptismal basin, and were thoroughly documented before being carefully re-covered for preservation.

• Community celebrations, weddings, and events are an important part of Bethel Park's future. The two main spaces were designed to accommodate groups in various configurations: party tent over the exterior lawn, auditorium-style seating within the church walls. A space along the west side of the park accommodates catering trucks for events. This requirement, added late in the process, affecting permeable surface calculations and the visual integrity of the outdoor space, was a challenge that the design team resolved successfully.

• Bethel Park respects and interprets the religious heritage of the place, yet the park is also experienced as a beautiful place for quiet reflection or community gatherings, without religious connotations.

Team List
Landscape Architect and Team Lead: White Oak Studio
Jim Patterson, RLA ASLA
Cheryl Quinn, RLA ASLA
Kevin Nowak, RLA ASLA
Travis Peiffer, RLA ASLA
Architect: PGAL
Civil & Electrical Engineer: Infrastructure Associates
Structural Engineers: Henderson + Rogers, Walter P. Moore
Archeology: Community Archeology Research Institute
Irrigation: Chuck Puccio Irrigation
Historical Research and Writing: Urban Architecture (Crystal Granger, Debra Blacklock-Sloan)
Graphic Design: Minor Design
Contractor: JE Dunn Construction
Client: Houston Parks & Recreation Department, Houston General Services Department
Additional Funding: Houston Fourth Ward Redevelopment Authority

As seen in LASN magazine, March 2020.