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Buffalo Bayou Park Cistern

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Buffalo Bayou Park Cistern - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)

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The Buffalo Bayou Park Cistern is located at 105 Sabine Street, Houston, TX 77007.

Reservations required. View the tour schedule and purchase tickets here!

Should you have any questions about the Cistern or Buffalo Bayou Park, please call: 713.752.0314 ext. 301

Learn about the architecture of this unique space and the history of Houston’s water system during a guided 30-minute tour. 

• Thursday through Sunday
• 10am, 11am, 1pm, 2pm, 3pm, 4pm
• $7 per person (ages 9 and up only)
• $5 for college students, military and seniors (62+).  Must present I.D. upon checking in.
• Free on Thursdays
• Tickets can be reserved up to 60 days in advance.
• Tour capacity is 10 people.
• Parking:   A number of  parking options  are available around Buffalo Bayou Park.

All guests are  required to wear a face mask  and use hand sanitizer before entering the Cistern. Cleaning will take place between every Cistern tour.

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Buffalo bayou cistern opens to public.

Tours in the former underground drinking water reservoir are already booked out through next Thursday.

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A small group of visitors were getting a sneak peek Friday morning at the cistern that is hidden underground next to the Lee and Joe Jamail Skate Park on Sabine Street.

They were visibly impressed by the cavern-like structure supported by 221 concrete columns.

To demonstrate the up to 17 seconds-long echo, Buffalo Bayou Partnership President Anne Olson shouted "Hello, cistern!" into the dark.

It's a 90-year-old underground drinking water reservoir that the city decommissioned in 2007 — most of Houston's drinking water is now surface water from lakes and rivers.

The Buffalo Bayou Partnership re-discovered it about six years ago when it was working on developing its $58 million park project. The initial idea was to make it into a parking garage.

"But when the design team dropped down here and they saw these perfectly symmetrical columns and this noise that they heard and saw this light reflection on the little bit of water that was down below, they were really awe-struck," said Stephanie Kiouses, the partnership's visitor services supervisor for Buffalo Bayou Park.

She said it reminded them of the Roman Basilica Cistern in Istanbul.

With the help of a $1.7 million grant from The Brown Foundation , the partnership added an entrance tunnel and a walkway along the walls with a guardrail.

They also installed some lighting but the cistern is still pretty dark to maintain the original atmosphere. A few inches of water still cover the ground.

The plan is to later include light and sound art installations.

Katharine Lusk, who was visiting from Boston, was enjoying the view.

"It's just a stunning space, and the magnitude of it is really impressive," she said.

There are guided tours every Thursday through Sunday. They are already booked out for this weekend.

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The City's Greatest Landmark Is Right Under Your Nose

By Jeanne Lyons Davis January 23, 2017 Published in the February 2017 issue of Houstonia Magazine

The Water Works

Image: Slyworks Photography

T he nondescript entrance near The Water Works visitor center looks like a maintenance closet. If not for the line of people waiting outside the door, you’d probably miss the passageway into Houston’s recently revitalized underground “ruin”—the Cistern.

Built in 1926, the 87,500-square-foot cavern was one of Houston’s first drinking-water reservoirs, holding 15 million gallons. (The city now uses 500 million gallons daily). Decommissioned in 2007, the space was one step away from becoming a parking lot until the Partnership rediscovered the site.

“BBP is committed to historic preservation, so preserving the Cistern was very important to us,” says organization president Anne Olson. “It is so unique; it just had to be saved.”

After a minimally invasive $1.2 million renovation, including the addition of an elevated sidewalk around its quarter-mile exterior, the reimagined reservoir opened to the public in May of last year. Tickets are $5, and 40 people—the maximum let in at a time—typically walk through its snake-like concrete tunnel every half hour. As of November, nearly 16,000 visitors had taken a tour.

Magdalena Fernández, "Rain"

Image: Peter Molick/courtesy of the artist and Sicardi Gallery

When it’s your turn to venture down, the temperature quickly drops; then, the narrow passageway opens into a cathedral-like cavern of 221 two-story, symmetrical columns, reflected in a three-inch pool of water. It is vast, eerie and elegant, reminiscent of ancient Roman ruins, but a stone’s throw from downtown rush hour.

The BBP plans to host periodic art exhibits here. The first, Rain: Magdalena Fernández at the Houston Cistern , a collaboration between BBP and the Museum of Fine Arts, is already open and runs through June. The installation projects a two-minute video by the Venezuelan-born artist into the vast space, set to a soundtrack by the a cappella Slovenian choir Perpetuum Jazzile, which is amplified by the Cistern’s impressive 17-second echo. It looks and sounds like rain, a perfect fit for the previously water-filled space.

“I have been working with water since 1993; the drops and rain are paramount components of my research,” says Fernández. “I couldn’t have been happier when they asked me to install Rain . It is an extraordinary opportunity to re-enact a discussion on water within the Cistern.”

Rain runs thru June 4. $8–$10: 3:30–7 Wed and Fri, 10–7 Sat–Sun. Free: 12:30–7 Thurs. Separate tours of the Cistern are available for $5 on select days; call for more information. 105 Sabine St. 713-752-0314.

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Houston Underground: The Buffalo Bayou Park Cistern

The water reservoir was recently rediscovered during a renovation of Buffalo Bayou Park.

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Katya Horner

Houston is the state’s biggest city and one of its most diverse. Exploring all it has to offer will take you a very long time. And when you think you have discovered everything Houston has to offer above ground, just head below.

There, the city unveils yet another extraordinary experience. The Buffalo Bayou Park Cistern opened in May 2016. The underground relic is the size of one-and-a-half football fields and houses 221 concrete columns. So what is this place exactly?

It’s an 87,500-square-foot underground drinking water reservoir. It was built in 1926 for the City of Houston and was rediscovered during the recent $58 million Buffalo Bayou Park project. The Cistern was slated to be torn down to make way for parking, but project coordinators walked inside, took a look at the space and knew immediately it was too beautiful to destroy.

Reminiscent of the ancient Roman cisterns under Istanbul, the space was carefully renovated and is now open to the public. The way light bounces off the water on the floor and sound echoes in the large concrete structure, walking underground into the Cistern is an almost mystical experience.

To visit, you must reserve a tour of the Cistern. Guides highlight its history and architecture. The 30-minute tours are free on Thursdays. Fridays and Sundays they are $5 each.

You can learn more about these and other Texas destinations in the  travel issue  of Texas Lifestyle magazine.

Check the event schedule to find out whether the Cistern is currently housing an art installation.

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Cistern Illuminated is no ordinary attraction in Buffalo Bayou Park. (Courtesy of Buffalo Bayou Partnership.) (Photo by Courtesy of Buffalo Bayou Partnership.)

Houston artist and engineer Kelly O’Brien is the creative vision behind Cistern illuminated.

Some of the multi-color changing lights you'll see inside the new exhibit, Cistern Illuminated. (Photo by Courtesy of Buffalo Bayou Partnership.)

Houston’s Mysterious Cistern Brings Holiday Lights Underground For a Show Like No Other — How to Get Immersed

Buffalo bayou park's most hidden and unique attraction beckons.

I f you’ve never visited the Cistern in Houston’s Buffalo Bayou Park, it’s the perfect time and season to make your way to this cavernous, somewhat mysterious underground site. Now through January 7, the Buffalo Bayou Partnership is hosting Cistern Illuminated, a winter light installation held inside the massive 87,500-square-foot space. It is created by Houston artist and engineer Kelly O’Brien with this talented artist reprising his role for the now second annual event that incorporates visual and audio elements to create a fully immersive sensory art experience.

But what is the Cistern you ask? Built during the 1920s to serve as a drinking water repository (in later years, it got replaced by modern-day reservoirs), this industrial relic is reminiscent of those ancient Roman cisterns found in Istanbul. Inside the dark, expansive space are 221 25-foot-high imposing concrete columns where O’Brien has strategically placed lighting instruments, each controlled by a custom software system that casts an array of colored lights up through the vast columns.

In addition, if the light catches it just right, you’ll spy a reflection of the Cistern’s ceiling on the glass-like surface of the water below.

Yet, beyond the stunning visual elements on display, this year’s installation also makes use of the space’s extraordinary acoustics, exciting for new and repeat visitors alike. In addition to tours that allow peiople to view the installation, choral performances from the Schola Cantorum of the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart will take place on select dates, highlighting the Cistern’s unique acoustic qualities and bringing music to this already ethereal experience. Tickets for Cistern Illuminated are available here .

Curiously, the powers that be at the Buffalo Park Partnership only rediscovered the Cistern in 2010 when they were developing Buffalo Bayou Park , the 160-acre green space West of downtown Houston. Recognizing the significance of the highly unusual site, Buffalo Park Partnership took on the task of repurposing the Cistern into an awe-inspiring public space. In addition to tours highlighting the history and architecture of the Cistern, Buffalo Park Partnership presents an ambitious program of changing art installations in the space throughout the year, including past projects from Magdalena Fernández, Carlos Cruz-Diez and Anri Sala.

Buffalo Park Partnership offers tours of the Cistern year-round, but Cistern Illuminated is only available for a limited time, with the show running until  Sunday, January 7. Cistern Illuminated is open Wednesdays through Sundays from 10 am to 5 pm.

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Houston’s magical underground Cistern gets illuminated for the holidays

The "cistern illuminated" installation features a custom light design and musical performances..

The "Cistern Illuminated” installation features a custom light design and musical performances.

A new holiday light show is like no other in Houston.

Buffalo Bayou Partnership will light up one of Houston’s hidden treasures, the underground cistern, built in 1926 to store Houston's public drinking water.

The cavernous reservoir, which is the size of one-and-a-half football fields, was decommissioned in the mid-2000s due to an irreparable leak. That was hardly the end of its story, however. 

In the spring of 2016, Buffalo Bayou Partnership, the nonprofit organization dedicated to revitalizing the bayou, opened the architectural relic to the masses, having rediscovered, restored and repurposed it into an accessible venue that has since housed several temporary art installations. Landscape architect Kevin Shanley dubbed it “the Cistern.”

Houstonians are invited to see the space as it’s never been seen before with the launch of “Cistern Illuminated.” The installation, featuring a custom light design by local visual artist and engineer Kelly O’Brien, will offer an enchanting perspective of the underground reservoir. Tours will be punctuated with music performances by the Schola Cantorum of the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart. 

Upon entry, subtle undulations of a warm glow, mimicking that of flickering candlelight, will enhance the Cistern’s 200-plus concrete columns and add dimension to their seemingly infinite reflections in the glassy water surface below.   

When: Through Jan. 8 

Tour times: Every other hour from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, with an additional tour at 7 p.m. on Friday. (Closed Christmas Day and New Year's Day.)

Tickets: $10 per person; free on the first Thursday of the month 

Schola Cantorum performances: 7, 7:45 and 8:30 p.m. Dec. 18, 20, 22 and Jan. 5, 6; tickets $20 per person

Information: buffalobayou.org  

Large-scale works by international artists have flooded the space with light and color before — the first of which was an abstract rainfall simulation by Venezuelan artist Magdalena Fernández — but O’Brien has taken a different approach. To highlight the majesty of the Cistern’s raw interior, his focus shifted upward.   

“From literally being down in the water in waders, I was able to get a sense for what the Cistern truly was and what it really needed in terms of artistic intervention,” said O’Brien, who founded Fenris, a creative fabrication studio, in 2014. “What I discovered through experimentation is that what would work well in the space is to take the lights off the water and just light the ceiling. Personally, that’s where I think the magic is.” 

O’Brien first started conceptualizing his design in 2019, after the almost yearlong exhibition “Spatial Chromointerference,” an immersive piece of optical illusions by artist Carlos Cruz-Diez. Fast-forward through the pandemic and by the closing of the Cistern’s third installation — Anri Sala’s “Time No Longer” — in January, O’Brien had refined his prototype and approached the partnership team, who happened to be in the midst of brainstorming ideas for an innovative holiday program. 

“When we saw what he was doing, the lightbulb went off,” said Karen Farber, who the partnership named vice president of external affairs in May 2020. “It’s not an easy thing to make an impact in the space because it’s so large, but Kelly knows how to do that, let alone things like getting down into the water safely and running wires through the water.” 

While the intention was always to transform the defunct reservoir into an exhibition venue, incorporating music into its programming has been a more recent commitment. The programs amplify the Cistern’s inherent acoustic quality and 17-second reverberation. Just last month, the organization concluded its latest series, “Underground Sounds,” with the final of four iterations, featuring the boundary-pushing ensemble Loop38. 

Now, it will showcase the complex instrument that is the voice. For five evenings during “Cistern Illuminated,” members of the Co-Cathedral’s Schola Cantorum will perform three half-hour concerts, singing a mix of ethereal pieces from the seventh century to the present day. 

“Live music alone is a special experience, but enhancing it with any type of visual experience, I think, creates more interest,” said director of music and Cathedral organist Crista Miller, who curated the program, taking into consideration the juxtaposition of light and dark that is present in the installation. “I love the opportunity to meld various art forms. Even if we did all the music from this concert at another location, it wouldn’t be the same. The Cistern itself is just so unique.” 

On view through Jan. 8, “Cistern Illuminated” will mark Buffalo Bayou Partnership’s first holiday-themed endeavor in the historic underground site. 

“We have this sense of excitement about trying something new in the space, about doing something special in Buffalo Bayou Park that really takes advantage of the fact that Houston is one of the great places to be in the wintertime,” Farber said. “I hope that this will be the thing, or at least one of the things that we do in an ongoing way.”

Lawrence Elizabeth Knox is a freelance writer.

• Lawrence Elizabeth Knox

Ride Through An Enchanting Aquarium On This Underwater Train In Texas

Katie Lawrence

Katie Lawrence is a Southeast Texas native who graduated 18th in her high school class with a GPA of 4.25. She attended college in the Houston area and began writing for OnlyInYourState in 2015. Today, Katie writes, edits, and performs several other tasks for OnlyInYourState and has never been more passionate about a job before. Outside of work, you can likely find her curled up on with a hot cup of coffee, practicing yoga, baking, or exploring the beautiful Lone Star State (in particular, the vast and mystical West Texas desert).

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Train rides are inherently awesome, but one in particular takes that enchantment to a whole new level. At Downtown Aquarium in Houston, Shark Voyage is an underwater aquarium train ride in Texas that takes passengers through a 200,000-gallon aquarium filled with the ocean’s most vicious predators and a vast array of additional sea life.

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Visit the aquarium’s website or Facebook page to learn more and purchase tickets.

Have you ever embarked on the Shark Voyage, an incredible aquarium train ride in Texas? If so, we’d love to hear all about the experience! Check out our previous article for more information about the restaurant at Downtown Aquarium: Dine Among Magical Sea Creatures At This Underwater Restaurant In Texas .

OnlyInYourState may earn compensation through affiliate links in this article. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

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LIV Golf starts Friday. A hole-by-hole look at Golf Club of Houston.

B uilt to host the Houston Open, the tournament course at Golf Club of Houston plays to a par 72 — 4 par 5s, 4 par 3s — spread over 7,400 yards. Cut — through a natural forest, each hole is framed by trees, bunkers, water, or wetland plants, which provide definition and challenges. The course, a regular PGA Tour stop from 2003-2019, is a bit tricky with deceptive bunkering and difficult pin locations. The layout will be challenging for the 54 LIV Golfers who are competing this week in the tour’s eighth event of the 2024 season.

Here is a hole-by-hole description of all 18 holes:

Par 4, 395 yards.

A simple start to the round but placement off the tee is critical for success. Not overly difficult, it is No. 17 handicap.

Par 4, 429 yards.

Again, a well-placed tee shot is important. The generous landing zone of this slight dogleg right narrows considerably between opposing fairway bunkers. Deep sand bunkers guard both sides of the multi-level putting surface.

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Par 4, 392 yards.

Hole location is pivotal in planning the optimum approach angle into the green. Water protects front and left portions of this uniquely sculpted putting surface. Accessing the rear and right pin placements will be especially challenging.

Par 5, 565 yards.

Tee shot must avoid large, sculpted bunker left of first landing area, to provide any opportunity of reaching green in two shots. The green angles from the front-right to back-left and protected by water on left and deep bunker on right. An accurate approach shot required for legitimate eagle or birdie opportunity.

Par 4, 467 yards.

This long par 4 requires a solid drive, followed by a long and accurate approach. Missing tee shot to right results in an extremely difficult recovery. Fairway bunker is long and right, with plenty of landing area between it and lake guarding left of the hole. Left and front-left portions of green are protected by sand. A tightly-mown chipping hollow sits right of the green.

Par 4, 460 yards.

An intimidating tee shot must carry the wetland and avoid long strip bunker adjacent to left of the fairway. A well-struck tee ball, played with slight draw, gains extra roll and results in shorter approach to a green protected by water along its front and left.

Par 3, 173 yards.

The first par 3 of the round is also the course’s shortest, but certainly not to be taken lightly. Club selection is influenced by tee location and wind. Water awaits any shot pulled slightly left of green. Depending on hole location, saving par from the sand on the right can also be challenging.

Par 5, 564 yards.

Definite birdie or potential eagle opportunity for the professionals, as two well-played shots will reach this deep and receptive green. However, bogey is a possibility, as fairway approach narrows considerably into the green and is flanked by lake on right and cluster of deep sand bunkers on left.

Par 3, 238 yards.

This longer par 3 features a wide approach ramp and subtle green contours. Short-siding a left-side pin  in the adjacent sand bunker, presents a difficult up-and-down to save par.

Par 4, 382 yards.

Regardless of tee angle selected for play, accuracy off tee is paramount to set up the desired approach shot into the elevated and multi-tiered green. Any approach shot short or right of green, will roll to the base of the slope, setting up difficult chip shot.

Par 4, 440 yards.

Perhaps most demanding driving hole on the course. Water guards entire right side of fairway landing area, and a small sand bunker sits left, at far end of driving zone. Large green is protected by water on right and deep sand bunkers on left and rear.

Par 4, 335 yards.

This risk/reward hole provides opportunity for exciting eagle or frustrating bogey or worse. Fairway landing area and approach into the green are sized and shaped to encourage driving the green. However, any attempt to do so that is pushed right, will land in the lake. A safer play, to left of fairway, results in more difficult approach. The green is deep, receptive and features a lower trough across the center, offsetting higher plateaus in front and rear.

Par 5, 588 yards.

Precise placement of each successive shot becomes increasingly more critical in securing birdie. Series of sand bunkers is parallel to generous first landing area. Flirting with bunkers on left of second landing area provides ideal angle to access smallish, back-right position of the green.

Par 3, 215 yards.

The putting surface contours of this scenic par 3 create distinct cupping areas and reward an accurate tee shot with an excellent birdie opportunity. Deep sand bunkers flank both sides of the green, creating a challenging recovery to an adjacent hole location.

Par 5, 609 yards.

The first landing area of longest par 5 features a right-to-left cross slope and narrows slightly opposite left fairway bunker. Second shot must favor right side of fairway, close to sculptured bunker, to obtain ideal angle into diagonal green.

Par 3, 199 yards.

Angle of play and varying wind conditions will greatly affect difficulty of hole. Regardless, the green is receptive from either set of tees and contoured to reward accuracy with shorter and more level putt.

Par 4, 487 yards.

This challenging par 4 requires two well-struck shots to reach the green. Carrying left fairway bunker off the tee results in added roll and significantly shorter approach shot into elevated green. However, a failed challenge to carry the steep face of this bunker prevents any chance of reaching the green.

Playing to same distance as No. 17, the final hole is demanding and set up for a possible dramatic finish. With lake bordering entire left side, tee shot challenges golfer to carry as much water as possible, while avoiding large sculptured bunker along left of fairway landing area. Approach leaves little margin for error with water on left and sand bunker on right. With tournament on the line, attacking left-back hole location is gutsy.