TOWN GREEN PARK GRAND OPENING WILL BE CELEBRATED WITH A “FESTIVAL ON THE GREEN”

Individuals appearing in photo, from left: Dan Houser, Vice President, Woodforest National Bank Judy Larson, Vice President, Woodforest National Bank Cindi Stewart, Vice President, Woodforest National Bank Robert Marling, CEO, Woodforest National Bank Jennifer Bourne, Business Development Manager, TCID Nick Wolda, Vice President of Marketing and Public Affairs, TCID

THE WOODLANDS, TX. (February 24, 2006)… After months of careful planning and much anticipation, Town Green Park will celebrate a community-wide grand opening with a “Festival on the Green” celebration Saturday, April 1 from noon – 6 pm.

The “Festival on the Green”, a free event, is generously sponsored by Woodforest National Bank. Other sponsors include the Town Center Improvement District of The Woodlands, The Woodlands Development Company and Chevron Phillips.

“We are pleased to be able to sponsor the grand opening for the 100 th park in The Woodlands. We know Town Green Park will be an important addition to the community and Town Center,” said Cindi Stewart, Vice President of Marketing for Woodforest National Bank.

Town Green Park is located on the banks of The Woodlands Waterway Ò between the South Montgomery County Library and The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion.

The following activities will take place at the family-friendly “Festival on the Green”:

KidsontheGreen

• Noon- 12:20 pm #1 Crush on Main Stage
• Three Woodlands-area girls ages 12-14 make up this singing and dancing pop/rock group.
• 12:30- 1:00 pm Savvy on Main Stage
• Savvy is a local pop sensation. Members include seven girls and boys ages 9 – 15. This successful group has a CD and DVD available at Sam Goody stores nationwide.
• 1:00- 1:30 pm Frisbee Dog Show. Ten teams from the Houston Canine Frisbee Disc Club perform routines with their canine athletes to music.
• 1:30- 2:00 pm Kite Flying. Troy Gunn, a sport kite-flying champion, demonstrates his world-record skills on the lawn.
• Noon- 1:00 pm Mother Goose Storytelling at the Children’s Amphitheater
• Noon- 2:00 pm Activities. Kids won’t want to miss rock wall climbing, mural painting, inflatable bouncers, obstacle course, slides, sack races, bigfoot races and more!

Dancing on the Green

• 2:00- 2:20 pm The Woodlands Stars Square Dancers on Main Stage. The Woodlands Stars Square Dancers is comprised of Woodlands-area residents with a passion for square dancing.
• 2:30- 3:00 pm Swing Dancers on Main Stage. Join the fun as local Woodlands-area dancers swing on the Main Stage.
• 3:00- 3:30 pm #1 Crush on Main Stage
• 3:30- 4:00 pm Savvy

Groovin’ on the Green

• 4:00- 6:00 pm L’Angelus on Main Stage. L’Angelus is a five-member Cajun rock group from Louisiana playing tunes on guitar, bass, drums, fiddle and saxophone.

Food and drinks are available for purchase at the festival. Event parking is located in the Town Center Garage located on Six Pines Drive for $5. Free parking is accessible in the Pavilion orange and green lots, both of which are located on the north side of Timberloch Drive.

ABOUT TOWN GREEN PARK

The 100 th park in The Woodlands will certainly serve as a community-gathering place. The elements of the park set it apart from other area parks, beginning with the entrance. Every great park has a dramatic entrance and Town Green Park will be no exception.

Two impressive, 18.5-foot columns, each topped with a five-foot, stylized pinecone, will welcome guests to Town Green Park. Decorative brick columns will form a border on each side of these grand columns.

As visitors walk through the entrance to Town Green Park, they will have a clear view of the park’s central gathering spot, The Great Lawn, which extends all the way down to The Woodlands Waterway. Just inside the entrance, visitors can take a seat along a trellis-like covered area with vines providing intermittent shade.

Almost two football fields long and covered with lush Bermuda grass, the “free-play” space of The Great Lawn will be a community gathering spot to toss a Frisbee, fly a kite, enjoy a picnic or just lay in the sun. The Great Lawn stretches from the park’s entrance to a fenced area just north of The Woodlands Waterway.

The Children’s Garden at Town Green Park will incorporate landscape design elements with fun literary experiences to complement the neighboring South Montgomery County Library. Children can let their imagination run wild, literally, through a natural labyrinth of 36-inch hedges. As they weave through this natural maze, children will encounter large storybooks with contemporary updates from Aesop’s Fables, thereby making The Children’s Garden a truly literature-friendly experience.

The east border of the park will feature a walkway with several comfortable nooks with circular bench seating. The east side of the park will provide a passive shaded area utilizing the existing tree canopy along The Pavilion’s walkway and also contain over 50 types of perennial vegetation.

An inspiring and thought-provoking sculpture of hands releasing doves into the air is the focal point of a quiet spot on the north side of the park.

Town Green Park will provide a destination for Town Center visitors, as well as a venue for special events taking place in Town Center such as the Lighting of the Doves and Red, Hot and Blue Festivals. It will also become the newest spot for the water taxis that navigate The Woodlands Waterway.

Town Center Improvement District and The Woodlands Development Company had the vision to complete a “downtown central park” in Town Center. The Woodlands Development Company donated the site for the park and supervised design and construction, while TCID funded the $3.5 million initiative. Miner-Dederick Constructors, Inc. served as the park contractor and the Houston office of SWA Group created the landscape architecture.