Galena Park completes Gateway Monument

THE NEW GATEWAY MONUMENT is part of the Project Stars of the San Jacinto Historical District. Each of the 10 cities in the area served by EconomicAlliance Houston Port Region received money to build these monuments. Galena Park is number 9 in the series. The first Gateway was erected in La Porte in 2008. Although each design is different, responding to its setting, each has a Blue Star that lights at night. Project Stars is also responsible for the Historical Murals painted on the oil storage tanks along Highway 225 and Independence Parkway in Deer Park.
THE NEW GATEWAY MONUMENT is part of the Project Stars of the San Jacinto Historical District. Each of the 10 cities in the area served by EconomicAlliance Houston Port Region received money to build these monuments. Galena Park is number 9 in the series. The first Gateway was erected in La Porte in 2008. Although each design is different, responding to its setting, each has a Blue Star that lights at night. Project Stars is also responsible for the Historical Murals painted on the oil storage tanks along Highway 225 and Independence Parkway in Deer Park.
THE NEW GATEWAY MONUMENT is part of the Project Stars of the San Jacinto Historical District. Each of the 10 cities in the area served by EconomicAlliance Houston Port Region received money to build these monuments. Galena Park is number 9 in the series. The first Gateway was erected in La Porte in 2008. Although each design is different, responding to its setting, each has a Blue Star that lights at night. Project Stars is also responsible for the Historical Murals painted on the oil storage tanks along Highway 225 and Independence Parkway in Deer Park.

GALENA PARK – The Gateway Monument that they city voted in favor of last year, has now been completed. It stands in the front of City Hall, de-marking a “Gateway” into the Port Region. As such, it was paid for by the EconomicAlliance Houston Port Region, as part of a project known as Project Stars. These gateways are conceived as a regional themed beautification project, designed to highlight the rich historic assets of the 10-city district and to visually de-mark the entrance to each city.

In Galena Park, lacking an appropriate entrance site, the monument was constructed in the center, by City Hall.

EconomicAlliance paid $100,000 toward the project, and the city contributed matching funds of $25,000 according to information from Robert Pruett, previous City Administrator.

Each of the monuments in the various cities was designed by landscape architects Knudson LP. The Galena Park monument was designed by Bryan Janhsen of Knudson LP. Project Stars was originally conceived by Harris County Pct. 2 Commissioner Sylvia Garcia, and Jan Lawler of the EconomicAlliance starting in 2004. It was conceived as a trail of living history, as Project Stars will mark the route to Texas Independence as the historical markers highlight each city or location in East Harris County. Tourists and citizens are encouraged to “Follow the Stars” as they make their way from the Harrisburg region, all the way east to the San Jacinto Monument. This monument marks the site of one of the most significant battles in American history, where General Sam Houston led his Texas Army to victory and freed Texas from Mexico.

Project Stars currently consists of four oil storage tanks painted with huge historical murals, and 9 gateway projects in the participating cities. Two of the murals are on Highway 225, one is on a VoPak tank on Independence aParkway, and the newest is on a tank in Baytown.