Friends of American Legion Park is a community group thats championing the fundraising efforts for the Masterplan Revitalization Project!

Please help us reach our goal of $35k by the end August 2023 to fund the Masterplan for the Revitalization Project! Were 2/3rds there and every donation gets us closer! All donations are tax deductible and can be made online through the Houston Parks Board ALP website. Friends of ALP also needs volunteers to help coordinate events and fundraising efforts to benefit the park! Find us on Facebook @friendsofalp.

American Legion Park is located at 3621 Golf Drive (Northwest Houston) in the Oak Forest neighborhood adjacent to Garden Oaks and Shepherd Oaks. The park has large grass fields that countless youth and adult recreational teams play on. But the backstops and bleachers need refreshing. And more lighting is needed to provide safer places to play and exercise throughout the five-acre park. Perhaps a walking trail around the park and other fitness opportunities could be added to the Masterplan.

Beyond the parks expansive fields and majestic oak trees, the playground is the first thing you notice when you arrive at American Legion Park. Unfortunately, its seen better days. Even the pieces that havent gone missing are inaccessible. Besides being unsightly, the playground is barely usable for kids wanting to play especially for those with disabilities. Lets do better for our neighborhood children, whod treasure a new playground to enjoy!

Speaking of our neighborhood children, lets not forget that Friends of ALP hosts preschool story times and a Kids Green Club at American Legion Park to encourage local families to get outside. Children enjoy stories, songs, environmentally friendly crafts, and the chance to play with each other afterwards on the playground. The park is now a much safer place to host gatherings thanks to the new fence that was installed along the railroad tracks by the Houston Parks Dept with Councilmember Abbie Kamins help. The fence came about after Friends of ALP urged the City to address the safety concerns the nearby railroad tracks posed. Our next goal is to make the park earth friendly by offering recycling and perhaps even composting. With your continued help and support, the possibilities for revitalizing this local gem in our amazing community are endless!

A Friends of ALP Co-Chair had this to say about the ALP Masterplan Revitalization project: The theme of American Legion Parks revitalization movement as a park for all ages could not be more fitting. Whether its a storytime, kickball game, birthday party, baseball practice, Easter egg hunt, or a baby shower, American Legion Park has a storied history of being the outdoor gathering place for the Garden Oaks/Oak Forest community. The neighborhood is buzzing with excitement about what the next chapter of this urban greenspace in the center of our area will bring. Seeing the return of young families under old oak trees, the lawn covered in picnic blankets, and people dancing in the park this past year has been heartwarming. So many neighbors at Friends of ALP storytimes, picnics, and fundraising events have eagerly shared their hopes for beautifying this public space. Im thrilled to be part of the effort to sustainably bring ALP to its full potential as an environmentally friendly neighborhood park for future generations to enjoy. -AM

Once we reach our $35k goal to fund the Masterplan, Friends of ALP will collaborate with the Houston Parks and Recreation Department and Councilmember Abbie Kamins Office to gather feedback from the community on goals for the Revitalization Project. Well send out notices of these future meetings, so we can bring together the spectrum of park users and collect their input. Please join the ALP Friends Committee on Facebook @FriendsofALP to stay in the loop on all future developments! We are dedicated to achieving our goal of revitalizing American Legion Park, so that its accessible to people of all ages and sustainably designed to stand the test of time!!

History of American Legion Park: WWI & WWII Veterans in the Garden Oaks/Oak Forest area planned out this beautiful five-acre park with a ballfield and playground in 1948. Then in 1951, American Legion Post 560 donated the park to the City of Houston and moved to their current home which is located a few blocks from the park on Alba Road.