Descendants of family who donated land oppose proposed changes to Hermann Park

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Three weeks after ABC13 first broke the story of plans by Harris Health to condemn a tract of Hermann Park donated to the City of Houston 111 years ago, we have additional documentation showing that the Texas Medical Center actively pushed for the condemnation despite concerns of the Hermann Park Conservancy.

The new information comes as another descendant of the land’s original donor, August Warneke, says his family wishes that the park land remains greenspace for Houstonians should be honored.

“I’m proud to know the land I’m riding my bicycle on and walk or playing with my dogs, is a family homestead and I’m very proud of that,” Dorsey Parker said, the great-great-great grandson of Auguste Warneke, donor of the land known as the “Warneke Tract” to those familiar with Hermann Park.

Parker took ABC13 to Glenwood Cemetery, to show us his father’s grave, which is right next to the Warneke’s grave in the “old German” section of the cemetery.

“My great-great-great grandparents donated those acres to the City of Houston to be used by the City of Houston citizens to be used as a park and a greenspace,” Parker said.

However, ABC13 has obtained a seven-page PowerPoint presentation prepared by the Texas Medical Center that was circulated, but never publicly distributed, in 2024. The presentation states that Ben Taub hospital is old and that TMC supports the idea of building a new Ben Taub tower on the Warneke tract. The presentation includes a rendering of the tower, and promises that the current Ben Taub property will eventually be “swapped” out to the Conservancy. It even includes a rendering of a proposed trolly system in the park, with a stop where the current Ben Taub hospital is located.

“Just leave it alone,” Parker said, when we showed him the presentation. A spokesperson for the Boston based public relations firm representing the TMC would not comment on the record about the presentation.

In addition, ABC13 has obtained the 70 page Master Plan of Hermann Park Conservancy that was presented to City leaders and major players in the proposed deal in the spring of 2024.

In that presentation, it is clear that the HPC wanted to keep the Warneke tract as park space, with additional trees and other amenities for park goers. The only additional structural building was a planned parking garage on the edge of the tract to alleviate parking shortages. In the final two pages of the HPC Master Plan, it clearly lays out arguments against the land swap and condemnation. The plan includes a rendering showing how HPC believed that Ben Taub could phase-in building new hospital on the exiting 11-acre property it already controls, without encroaching on valuable park land.

However, during an earlier interview with ABC13, Harris Health CEO Dr. Esmaeil Porsa insisted the condemnation process appropriate.

“This is not a land grab, not a power grab, this is truly the only way I can see a future for Ben Taub Hospital,” he said.

Multiple sources have told ABC13 that although many supporters of Hermann Park want the park to remain intact, they felt they could not publicly advocate against the condemnation efforts due to the fact that the Texas Medical Center, Harris Health, and all the “power players” in the region were already lined up in support of the project.

Other sources close to Hermann Park Conservancy tell us they are afraid to speak out because they are worried that funding for other worthy projects would be cut if anyone publicly went against local elected officials and business interests.

That is why, these sources explain, the new president of the HPC tacitly supported the condemnation during a Harris Health board meeting in August.

Which leads us back to the descendants of the Warneke family. A reverter clause in the original donation deed says the land must go back to the family if the City of Houston no longer wants to use it as park land.

However, not one person from the family who has spoken to ABC13 has been contacted by City or county attorneys, who would need to be involved if the deed was to be honored.

In addition, real estate experts have told ABC13 the Warneke tract could be worth anywhere from 50 to 100 million dollars if made available in the open market.

Parker though, says relatives he’s talked to are proud of their family’s heritage in Houston, something money cannot buy. They want the park to remain greenspace, as August Warneke’s deed stated 111 years ago.

“I don’t know how you would condemn a park that’s been there 100 years, with no development on top of it, just trees and grass,” Parker said.

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