February 12, 2003

Houston Main Street Project
by Scott Nowell

Ed Wulfe, who has been involved in Houston real estate for over forty years and is a driving force behind the development of Main Street, was the featured speaker at the monthly Downtown Forum sponsored by the Downtown Houston Association.

Wulfe’s speech, “Four Decades of Civic Leadership,” focused on the development of Main Street. 

He said he first envisioned a pedestrian-oriented closed public space in 1970 when he helped organize the Houston International Festival, and had three blocks of Main Street closed off for a day. 

“Every great city has a great street,” said Wulfe, “Houston needs a signature boulevard.”

Wulfe was asked by Mayor Lee Brown in 1998 to head up the Main Street Coalition. The group’s focus is the revitalization of Main Street from Loop 610 on the south to Quitman Street on the north. The plan will likely take another twenty years to complete.

Wulfe said the Main Street Coalition was instrumental in getting a Main Street entrance added into the Reliant Stadium design, and has been awarded a grant to plant 600 live oak trees along Main Street near the stadium. The coalition is also in the process of helping create a museum walk on Binz Street.

Other plans for Main Street include a flower market near Sears, a new park with an underground parking garage in mid-town, a landscaped entrance ramp to Highway 59, and a water feature on the Main Street Square. Wulfe said the water feature “will shoot arcs of water over the rail cars.”

Wulfe praised the light rail line, which is scheduled to begin operating next year, running on Main Street between downtown and Loop 610.  He said the light rail will solve a lot of the city’s traffic and parking problems. 

“It’s the way to move people,” said Wulfe, “It will take Houston to the next level.”  

Wulfe, who has been mentioned as a possible mayoral candidate, said that he decided just last week not to run.