The project brings modern design to Houston’s historic cemetery
“The building is carefully integrated into the master plan, ensuring a seamless transition from the historic setting to the contemporary structure.”
—Dillon Kyle, Principal and Founder, Dillon Kyle Architects
The modern visitor center at Houston’s Glenwood Cemetery, which was established in 1871, is respectful of its historic surroundings, its designer said. “The building is carefully integrated into the master plan, ensuring a seamless transition from the historic setting to the contemporary structure,” said Dillon Kyle, principal and founder of Dillon Kyle Architects, Houston.
Serving as the primary gathering space for visitors, the newly completed center will also be used for genealogy research and as an event space for local Houston-area groups, with kitchen facilities in the facilities that can accommodate around 150 people. The project started in 2016.
Visitors to the 14,400-square-foot Italianate granite, bronze, and stucco building overlook the 88-acre cemetery from its main gathering space, where large windows and stone and bronze accents create a visual contrast between the old and the new one, he said. Kyle.
The center also includes a bronze donor panel and an archive room which, in addition to storing burial records and other information about those buried, contains historical data about the city and maps of the region. Former Houston residents buried at Glenwood include Hollywood industrialist and producer Howard Hughes and George R. Brown, co-founder of construction giant Brown & Root.
Kyle said Glenwood is the first cemetery structure he has designed, noting its dome construction as a challenge. The center is located in a place that was originally a maintenance and repair shop. The cemetery has declined to release the cost of the project. A 19th century structure that once housed administrative offices is intended to be reused as a chapel or auxiliary meeting place.
Port of Brownsville wins $11.5 million pier reconstruction grant
The Port of Brownsville’s Loading Dock 3 Reconstruction Project has received $11.5 million in funding from a Texas Department of Transportation Marine Infrastructure Program.
The funds will augment the pier overhaul, estimated to cost $30 million to $35 million, and improve the port’s capacity, efficiency and safety standards. The wharf, which dates back to the 1940s, was originally used for agricultural commodities and now handles general bulk cargo. The work phases include demolishing the pier, placing steel piles for new structural support for the pier and construction of the project, the port said. The pier was one of 31 projects to receive an estimated $240 million in state funding.
