The Courier of Montgomery County reports that a new interactive entrance for the Montgomery County Veterans Memorial Park and central library is being planned by a group. It will feature a garden and two huts used by the U.S. Navy during WWII.
For the construction of the new entrance, the county will lease a small parcel of land to the Montgomery County Veteran’s Memorial Commission.
The lease for the land, agreed to by commissioners, is just under a half-acre. The organization will pay $100 a year for the next 99 years.
The area off the Interstate 45 frontage road will become the main entrance to Honored Mission Hall, according to former County Judge and United States Marine Corp. veteran Jimmie Edwards III.
Edwards said, “We are going to build a garden, we are going to make it beautiful, it will be interactive.” He thinks it will not only attract people to the entrance but also to the library.
According to Edwards, there will be two Quonset huts at the entrance. This type of hut is a prefabricated, lightweight structure in an arch-shaped configuration. The United States Navy first used these huts during World War II and get their name from where they were built—Quonset Point, Rhode Island.
The southeast corner of the major intersection of Texas 105 and Interstate 45 leading into downtown Conroe is the location of the park. It honors Montgomery County’s fallen soldiers and those who served in the military. It was dedicated back in 2021 on Memorial Day.
First dedicated in 1976, the original Veterans Memorial Park was located next to the tax office in downtown Conroe. Edwards led the effort to have the park moved to a more visible location and expanded. Edwards was injured in the service in 1969.
With the assistance of Representative Will Metcalf in June of 2021, it was announced that the park would get $7 million from Texas Parks and Wildlife to fund the park’s next move which is an education center. In November of 2023, construction on the center began.
Edwards, was praised by Precinct 2 Commissioner Charlie Riley, for his work to build the park. Riley said, “This place is something everybody needs to see.”
