HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A park in Houston’s Fifth Ward will be renamed in honor of a man who offered free coaching to children in the neighborhood for decades, city officials announced on Wednesday.
The Houston City Council voted on Wednesday morning to rename Tuffly Park after the late James Robert Hall.
Hall started a Little League Baseball team in 1964 and allowed children in the community to play for free.
Hall, a physical education teacher at Dogan Elementary, also started other free sports programs for generations of children.
The movement to rename Tuffly Park after Hall was spearheaded by the late Alvin Byrd.
Byrd’s letter of support was read at City Hall during Wednesday’s vote, stating in part:
“James Hall was also a father figure to most of the boys whose fathers were not present at the time. James Hall knew his significance because he grew up in our neighborhood. He attended the schools in Fifth Ward.”
According to the letter, Hall also played for the Pittsburgh Pirates for three years until a career-ending knee injury. He returned home in Fifth Ward to give back to his community.
Hall died in 2024 at the age of 86.
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