Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony Marks Completion of Emotional Memorial Park Water Features in Kyle, Texas Designed and MEP-Engineered by OTL

On Patriot Day, September 11, 2022, the City of Kyle, Texas, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the completion of Heroes Memorial Park, a project honoring members of the armed services, first responders, and aerospace heroes. The park consists of three unique water features designed and MEP-engineered by OTL: a memorial water wall, a pedestrian bridge display, and a waterfall display.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony in Kyle, located 20 minutes from Austin and 45 minutes from San Antonio, included a procession by honor guards, a flag-raising ceremony, and a performance of the National Anthem by the Hays CISC High School’s Honor Choirs, followed by a moment of silence for lives lost. The event, which also featured the burial of a time-capsule containing elements contributed by local residents, concluded with a flyover by the Commemorative Air Force Central Texas Wing.

The heart and soul of the water feature project is a granite-clad memorial wall, which pays tribute to the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard, Space Force, and first responders, exhibiting their corresponding emblems. Within the 10-foot-tall wall structure is a 15-foot-wide waterwall lit from below that displays a shimmering effect during both daytime and evening hours. In addition, to allow daily and easy access to pumps, controls, and filtration equipment for the water features, OTL designed an above-ground structure positioned behind the memorial wall to house the controls and treatment systems; all pump equipment for the water features is vaulted below this structure.

Also on the granite wall, flanking the water wall to the right, is a poignant 3D American flag display that from one angle depicts the flag in full color and from another angle reveals the iconic flag raising at Iwo Jima. A circular walkway allows visitors to view the images from different angles, and a raised, stepped, stone-clad pedestal in the center of the walkway area holds a 65-foot-tall flagpole that highlights Old Glory—which can be seen from afar thanks to large flood lights at the flagpole’s base.

In addition, on the approximately 150-foot-long pedestrian bridge, OTL designed 50 4-inch scuppers integrated into the bridge structure to create a display of water cascading 5 feet to the pond below. Each scupper is accompanied by a light hidden under the walkway to illuminate the waterfall in the evening.

The park is envisioned to be an educational, reflective, and celebratory public space that will provide a variety of activities and experiences for all ages, as well as serve as a prominent gateway into the community. It is part of the first phase of The Brick and Mortar District, a 138-acre pedestrian-oriented, mixed-use development within the Plum Creek master-planned community. The first phase of the district will also include La Verde Park, a 1.6-acre park and event lawn, as well as the Cultural Trail, a 1,200-foot pedestrian and bike trail that will eventually connect the Heroes Memorial, La Verde Park, and the main retail street in the district.

The goals for the project were to provide a park area with a range of attractions for families, to honor national heroes and local heroes from Kyle and Hays County with a memorable and educational memorial, to support the overall vision and open-space framework within the Uptown development, to feature the natural landscape and create a park-like environment, to develop a place that is inviting and inclusive, and to provide space for celebration and reflection. Park features include the water feature project, arrival portal, memorial garden, and activity lawn.

The area that is now Heroes Memorial Park was merely a body of water amid open space before this project began. Its distinctive new water features appropriately pay homage to local and national heroes and will serve to provide an emotionally moving experience for the people of Texas, as well as visitors from states all over the country, for many years to come.