Despite months of overwhelming pleas for increased security at Houston’s only adaptive recreation center, city officials have yet to secure the Metropolitan Multi-Service Center, according to staff members at the facility.
Charles “Chuck” French, the facility’s administration manager, said at a Houston Commission on Disabilities meeting Thursday that the MMSC received the greenlight for a contractor to repair the fences and gates so that park rangers can properly close and lock the gates at night, but the timeline for that work to be completed is uncertain.
Meanwhile, they’ve had to remove upwards of 25 people last week who are unhoused and have camped out overnight, he said.
“Unfortunately, we’ve called HPD (Houston Police Department) every day this week so far and every single call has been [about] unhoused individuals using drugs, or coming off of a drug binge, loitering,” French said Thursday. “Things are being done; it’s just not moving as fast as we want them to. But things are in motion.”
The update comes after community members urged Mayor John Whitmire and city leaders in February to end unsafe activity at the center, which includes loitering, overnight camping, harassment, public sexual activity and marijuana smoking near the building.
For nearly six years from 2006 to 2011, the City of Houston contracted security services and park rangers to secure the grounds nightly, locking the gates at 10 p.m. and opening them at 5 a.m. But budget cuts reduced security spending at all parks and facilities. In 2012, park rangers stopped patrolling the grounds and locking the gates nightly.
Since those security measures ended a Houston Landing analysis of data showed an uptick of security incidents, particularly in 2024 when the MMSC recorded its highest number of incidents in the last 20 years with nearly 100 calls to HPD.
Following complaints made to City Council, several city departments, including District C Councilmember Abbie Kamin’s office, Houston Parks and Recreation Department (HPARD), General Services and the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities (MOPD), collaborated to create a solution, Kamin said. That included Parks and Recreation, one of the agencies that manages the multiservice center, repairing faulty gates and increasing park ranger presence at the building during opening and closing hours.
Kamin, who represents the area, said she had assumed the repairs would have been completed by now based on her office’s last correspondence with the Parks and Recreation Dept. on Feb. 27. In that email exchange shared with the Landing, the Parks and Recreation Dept. outlined that the back gates needed to be replaced and that the front gates needed to be fabricated and installed, which is expected to take approximately three weeks to complete.
She estimated the repairs to take roughly a month and considered the matter closed.
“I would expect if there is any further delay other than what was originally communicated with our office that we would be told of that,” Kamin said. “Things can happen, but I think the fact that they’ve increased security is an important step forward.”
Matt Musil, communications manager at the Parks and Recreation Dept., said repairs to the fences and gates are scheduled for later this week.
In addition to security updates, French also said that the facility is struggling with just one full-time lifeguard to cover the more than 44 hours that the indoor pool is open. By “begging and pleading,” he said the staff was able to get extended contracts for three lifeguards despite Whitmire implementing a hiring freeze, but they’ll need to fill more full-time positions to avoid reducing pool hours.
The Parks and Recreation Dept., Kamin and MOPD will hold a community meeting April 23 at 5:30 p.m. to gather input for the redevelopment and expansion of the MMSC.
“We are busting at the seams. We’re limited to what we can do,” said French, listing many of the adaptive sports they offer six days a week.
Expanding the MMSC remains a top priority for him, as he desires a larger facility to offer more services to the disability community.
“It’s this big undertaking,” French said. “It’s probably years and years in the making but if we don’t start these plans now they may never happen.”
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