Concert Series at The Woodlands Waterway Square

Concert Series at The Woodlands

Waterway Square

Live At Night

The popular concert series “Live at Night” returns this fall to Waterway Square in The Woodlands with live outdoor music every Saturday, September 12 – October 10, 2015, from 6 p.m. – 8 p.m.

Hazy Ray presents its alternative and funk-rock sounds on September 19 followed by Blues Brothers songs from tribute band The Rubber Biscuits Band on September 26 and the acoustic and rock tunes of The Guppies on October 3. The fall “Live at Night” schedule wraps up on October 10 with sounds from The .07 Blues Band, a unique blues show band.

All ages are welcome at this free, family-friendly event produced by The Woodlands Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Paid covered parking is available in the 24 Waterway Parking Garage (located at corner of Fountain Plaza & Lake Robbins Drive), the Waterway Square Parking Garage (between Fountain Plaza and Woodloch Court) and the surface parking lot along the corner of Waterway Avenue and Timberloch Place. “Live at Night” attendees will also find limited, free curbside parking along Lake Robbins Drive, Waterway Avenue, Waterway Square Place, and Timberloch Place.

Source: Woodlands Online

Counties and Nonprofit Piece Together Spring Creek Greenway

Spring Creek Greenway may already be one of the longest contiguous forested greenways in the nation. Harris County and the Bayou Land Conservancy, however, continue to work on land acquisitions and trail projects to connect the land preserves and trail systems along the entire 30-plus-mile stretch of the creek.

Harris County projects
Dennis Johnston, parks director for Harris County Precinct 4, said there are six tracts of land left to acquire along Spring Creek to connect all adjacent land in Harris County from Hwy. 59 to  FM 2978, including two tracts near Willow Creek and The Woodlands and another four tracts between Burroughs Park and FM 2978. 

Johnston said the county has already begun discussions with a developer regarding the two tracts near Willow Creek and has plans to purchase land west of FM 2978 through Tomball to Hwy. 249. However, that piece of the greenway may be years away from becoming reality.

“These things are always dependent on money,” Johnston said. “If we had the money right now, we’d go ahead and do it. We should have the piece from Hwy. 59 to [FM] 2978 done in the 

next year.”

In addition to the thousands of acres of land already acquired by the county, Harris County has built 12 miles of asphalt trails and has several other trail projects in the works to improve trail connectivity across the region.

Design has been completed on a trail that would connect Dennis Johnston Park to the Northgate Crossing subdivision, but construction on the Grand Parkway could prevent the project from breaking ground until early next year, Johnston said.

Another segment—from Northgate Crossing to Springwoods Village—could be a year away from breaking ground, he said. Design and engineering on the segment would be funded by the county. The project, which includes a bridge and undercrossings at a railroad and at I-45, could total upward of $2 million.

The county expects to go out for bid in August for a two-mile trail connecting Hwy. 59 to Jesse H. Jones Park, Johnston said. The project could cost the county about $1.7 million and break ground some time in early 2016.

Additional funding for parks and trails along the greenway could soon be available if voters approve a road and parks bond in November. The Harris County Commissioners Court approved an $848 million bond proposal for the Nov. 3 ballot that would provide $60 million for parks projects, including $15 million for projects within Precinct 4, if it passes.

“If we are able to get a bond, a part of that would go to parks,” Harris County Precinct 4 Commissioner Jack Cagle said. “There are a number of things we will be able to launch that the public will see an immediate benefit from. That could tie together our greenways and trail. We’re also in desperate need of fields.”

Other partners
Harris County is not alone in acquiring land and building trails and parks along the greenway. Miles of trails along Spring Creek have been built by The Woodlands, and Springwoods Village developer Coventry Development Corporation has agreed to construct trails along the creek within the master-planned development in Spring. At least three miles of trails have already been constructed in Springwoods Village, CDC officials said. “In our opinion, the Spring Creek Greenway is a great amenity,” said Keith Simon, executive vice president of CDC Houston. “We have the ability to connect it with the Springwoods Village Nature Preserve. When we first learned about it we thought, ‘Wow, that makes Springwoods Village better.’”

Perhaps the most significant partners on the Montgomery County side of the project have been Montgomery County Precinct 3 and the Bayou Land Conservancy, a nonprofit conservation organization that has helped acquire and preserve several tracts of land along the greenway over the last 16 years.

“Even though we’re based in Harris County, a lot of our work is in Montgomery County,” BLC Executive Director Jennifer Lorenz said. “The reason is because there is no parks department for Montgomery County. We help provide manpower, and provide millions of dollars to connect the greenway and pieces of that puzzle.”

The BLC has begun marking the location of a potential 11-mile trail on the Montgomery County side of the creek that could stretch from the George Mitchell Nature Preserve to a portion of the Montgomery County Preserve near I-45 and Rayford Road, Lorenz said.

The project has received a $100,000 grant from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, while The Woodlands Township has provided $25,000. Montgomery County Precinct 3 is funding another $30,000 for the project, she said.

The marking project began in February and is estimated to take about three years to complete. The timeline of construction of the trail will depend on how quickly the historical and cultural surveys are completed.

Lorenz said the partnering entities on the greenway have purchased about 82 percent of all land adjacent to the greenway. When it is completed, the project will total 33 miles and feature 12,000 acres of forested preserve, she said. The greenway not only helps mitigate flooding and provides recreational space for the community but it also provides economic benefits to the region as well, local officials said. “We are permanently forever protecting the land we work on,” Lorenz said. “The large swatches of land we work on will never, ever be developed. When I know I buy here this [area] is always going to be the same—that is a huge economic boost. Having these greenways increases the value of your property because your resale value ticks up higher.”
Source: Matt Stephens Community Impact Newspaper

For more information on the Spring Creek Greenway visit www.springcreekgreenway.org 

Bond for new Conroe ISD schools set

The Conroe Independent School District board of trustees Tuesday unanimously approved a $487 million bond proposal and called for an election in November. Montgomery County residents living within Conroe ISD's boundaries will be able to vote on the bond Nov. 3.

At the district's most conservative estimates of property valuation growth, Conroe ISD doesn't anticipate more than a 1-cent tax rate increase to fund its bond. A 1-cent increase for property owners within the district will mean an extra $10 for every $100,000 a homestead is worth. The property tax rate for the 2015-16 school year was approved to be $1.28 per $100 of assessed property value, which was the same as last year.

The school district has one of the lowest tax rates of neighboring school districts. In comparison, Klein ISD projects a tax rate of $1.39 per $100 of assessed property value for the 2014-15 school year. Spring ISD had a tax rate of $1.51 per $100 of assessed property value during the same period.

Conroe ISD, which serves more than 56,000 students across 60 campuses, is the 14th largest district in the state and the largest in Montgomery County, and it's growing rapidly. The district expects to add 1,400 students each year for the "foreseeable future." To get a handle on Conroe ISD's growth, several new schools will go up while other campuses will see major renovations over the next few years.

New high school
Of the $487 million bond package, $141.5 million - or nearly one-third of the package - will be allocated to a 3,000-student high school for the district.

This will be the second high school in the Oak Ridge feeder zone, which is the fastest-growing part of Conroe ISD, and the sixth in the district. The new high school is slated to open in August 2018 off Riley Fuzzel Road across from a planned segment of the Grand Parkway extension.
The price tag includes campus-wide WiFi, "think tank" and collaboration spaces, a robotics workspace, an audio/video lab, a graphics lab, as well as competition fields for softball, track and field, and baseball.

Plans for a new Oak Ridge high school are a result of the district's acute growth needs. Without a second high school, Conroe ISD's demographic study projects that its current Oak Ridge High School will be at 141 percent of capacity by the fall of 2024.

The district has already moved forward with plans for the second high school. It acquired 37 acres off Riley Fuzzel Road from Toll Houston TX LLC in a $5.7 million deal. The district filed to condemn an additional 46 acres of adjacent property through eminent domain in late May. The condemned property represents less than 10 percent of the adjacent land owner's property, and no homes are on the disputed land, according to the Conroe ISD board. The district offered $5.6 million before filing to condemn the property, which it says was the fair market value of the property.

The district is still in ongoing land negotiations. Funds for land acquisition came out of leftover 2008 bond funds.

More construction
The Oak Ridge feeder zone will see more than just a new high school.

Four of the five new schools in the 2015 bond are expected to go up in that part of the district, which includes an intermediate school and two elementary schools in addition to the high school.
The construction costs for the three additional Oak Ridge schools is expected to be $82.5 million.
The growing pains in the Oak Ridge area are severe for one school in particular: Birnham Woods Elementary. The K-4 school off Riley Fuzzel Road is growing so rapidly, that the district expects enrollment to be at 193 percent of capacity by the fall of 2024.

One of the two new elementary schools is expected to relieve pressure off Birnham Woods and possibly other surrounding elementary schools. Construction is slated to begin in 2016.
The second new elementary school, a K-6 campus, will go up off Texas 242 where students go to either Houser or Oak Ridge Elementary. Construction is slated to begin in 2018.

An intermediate school will also be built off Riley Fuzzel Road, and the district expects to start on the project in 2017. The new intermediate school will relieve pressure off Cox Intermediate, which the district projects will be at 182 percent of capacity by the fall of 2024 without a new school to siphon off excess capacity.

The fifth school on the list of new school construction is a junior high school in Conroe. The district will begin working on the $58.4 million project in 2018 off FM 3083. Although a large chunk of the bond is focused on new construction in the Oak Ridge feeder zone - about 44 percent - much of the bond will be spent on major renovation and facility expansion projects.

Knox Junior High in The Woodlands College Park feeder zone is expected to undergo a $12.2 million expansion to add a facility for new science classrooms. Stewart Elementary in Conroe will receive a small slice of the pie, about $1.2 million, to complete classroom build-out. Construction will begin in 2017.

Austin Elementary, a struggling school in the Conroe feeder zone, will receive $17.85 million for major renovations. The old east wing of the campus will be demolished and a new structure will be added on the south side. Construction is slated to begin in 2018.

The largest renovation project is at Conroe High School, coming in at $59 million. A three-phase school master plan was developed for the more than 50-year-old building to bring it up-to-date and maintain capacity for growth. The other phases, amounting to about $60 million, will be on the back burner for future bond packages. On top of all the new construction and facility renovations, funds have been set aside for district-wide upgrades, like safety and security and facility life cycle maintenance.

The bond was first proposed to be $511 million. But $24 million was chopped off, which included bond funds for new buses, some technology upgrades and "priority one" projects - electrical, plumbing, roofing, etc. However, the removed projects will still be funded through district budget surplus.

Additional funding
As part of the bond package, the board accepted a $5 million recommendation from CISD Superintendent Don Stockton. Of that addition, $2 million is expected to go to technical education improvements for cosmetology and welding programs at Caney Creek High School and Oak Ridge High School Ninth Grade center. An additional $3 million will go to building a robotics lab at The Woodlands College Park High School and Caney Creek High School.

Labor Day in The Woodlands! Free family fun, concerts, face painting and fireworks!

Labor Day Weekend Celebrations

September 5th and 6th 2015

6:00 PM  - 9:00 PM

Celebrate Labor Day in The Woodlands with two evenings of fireworks, live concerts, face painters, balloon artists and more 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sept. 5 and Sept. 6 at Waterway Square.

The festivities kick-off Sept. 5 with classic rock favorites by Mike Maker from 6 p.m. to 7:20 p.m. followed by Alter Ego, playing the latest alternative and classic rock hits from 7:40 p.m. to 9 p.m.

On Sept. 6, the fun starts all over again with cover band KAOS playing music from the 80s through today’s hottest hits from 6 p.m. to 7:20 pm. Rounding out the holiday weekend celebration is 80s variety band The Spicolis from 7:40 p.m. to 9 p.m.



A fireworks display will light up the night’s sky each evening beginning at 8:55 p.m., weather permitting. Organizers say Waterway Square offers the best viewing for fireworks.

The Labor Day concerts are free and open to the public. Lawn chairs, blankets and picnics are allowed. Parking is available in the Waterway Square Parking Garage (between Fountain Plaza & Woodloch Court) and the 24 Waterway Parking Garage (corner of Fountain Plaza & Lake Robbins Drive). Surface parking is available at the corner of Waterway Avenue & Timberloch Place and the corner of Six Pines and Lake Robbins Drive. Limited free street parking is available on Lake Robbins Drive, Waterway Avenue, Waterway Square Place, and Timberloch Place.

Located along Waterway Avenue, Waterway Square is a one-acre public plaza with unique water features and green spaces that serve as the “centerpiece” of The Woodlands Town Center.