If you’ve driven by Parks Elementary recently, the sights of bright, new playground equipment and manicured grounds have probably caught your eye. 

The attractive new community landmark is the new “SPARK Park” at the school, which will be dedicated at a special ceremony at 9 a.m., May 11 at the campus, 3302 San Augustine in Pasadena. Parks will also celebrate its 50-year anniversary at 5 p.m. in the cafeteria. 

In 1983, former Houston City Council member Eleanor Tinsley spearheaded the SPARK Park program in an effort to transform public school grounds into neighborhood parks. The new park at Parks Elementary will be one of 193 SPARK Parks in the Greater Houston area. 

The project was funded by a $100,000 grant by the City of Pasadena and donations of $20,000 from the Parks PTO, $5,000 from Harris County Precinct 2 and $5,000 from the Port of Houston Authority. Dansby and Miller Architects donated their services to provide the design for the park. 

“This is a wonderful thing for our school and especially the community,” said Parks Principal Sherry Meynier. 

The park grounds will be used by the school during the days and it will be open to the community when classes are not in session. 

Meynier said the school had to remove its playground equipment in 1999 because it no longer met specific codes. The Parks Elementary PTA and PTO groups held numerous fund-raisers for the next seven years that netted $20,000. A grant from the City of Pasadena also provided a needed boost toward playground revitalization efforts. 

After the significant amount of funds had been raised, a teacher at Parks began doing research on how to make the playground project a reality. That’s when the campus discovered the SPARK Park program. Meynier then drafted a letter of interest and the school found out it was selected as park location at the end of last school year. Construction on the park began in November. 

Students and faculty members at the school have been creating tiles with various school themes that will be placed on the gate of the SPARK Park. Park View Intermediate School’s art department donated their kiln to bake the tiles and prepare them for placement on the entrance to the park. 

Meynier said the students will have a vested interest in the upkeep of the park for years to come. Several trees were donated to the school during the park’s construction and the trees have been adopted by homeroom classes. 

“This project has involved the efforts of so many people. To see all of this come together is really a dream come true,” she said.