After losing her eight-month-old daughter in 2019, Margaret Elkins Davis looked for ways to celebrate Isabel’s life. She considered renovating the community center at what her neighborhood liked to call “Pumpkin Park,” where she grew up going as a child and frequently took Isabel and her siblings.

Six years later, Davis is spearheading an $11.2 million renovation and is the founding president of the new nonprofit Friends of Pumpkin Park.

About the project

For the past few years, Davis has talked with her community and met with officials from the Houston Parks Board and the Houston Parks and Recreation Department to plan out the renovation details.

While the park was officially founded in 1938, Davis said the River Oaks neighborhood has called the space Pumpkin Park for decades due to t

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