MacGregor Park is a 65-acre park just southeast of downtown Houston along Brays Bayou Greenway that has served as a key gathering space and recreational location for 100 years. One of the city’s oldest parks, MacGregor Park is known for its cultural influence in the historic Third Ward and African-American community, with a heralded legacy of producing some of Houston’s brightest athletes, artists and musicians. As a key location along Brays Bayou that naturally links to Hermann Park and west through the Medical Center and beyond, MacGregor Park also serves as an essential connector in Houston’s urban planning and flood control system.

M2L Associates led a team of architects and engineers in developing a comprehensive, community-based master plan to reimagine MacGregor Park for the next generations. The master plan improvements included five new buildings, outdoor events spaces, playgrounds and splashpads, aquatics, site hiking and bike trails, additional parking, and landscaping. Foundational to the master plan was organizing and capturing feedback from numerous stakeholders and funding organizations, from the City of Houston and Houston Parks Board to the MacGregor Park Conservancy and Friends of MacGregor Park, to the Kinder Foundation and city and federal legislators.

Key master plan elements called for renovating the Homer Ford Tennis Center into a state-of-the-art facility to attract high-profile competitors and tournaments; upgrading the parks swimming pool, adjacent pool building and historic community center; extending the perimeter greenway trails to enhance connectivity to the Bayou Greenways system and link to community bike lanes; creating a natural amphitheater for community gatherings; and adding an all-abilities, ADA-accessible playground.