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Consultant shows three gateway-monument concepts; council leans toward hybrid of two

Tomball City Council · December 16, 2025

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Summary

Westwood presented three southern gateway-monument concepts for Tomball, focusing on visibility from the elevated 249 toll road. Council favored combining the tall illuminated panels from one design with the ground-level historical scenes of another and asked staff and committees to refine the hybrid approach, paying attention to traffic and parking impacts.

Westwood consultant Patrick Owens presented three advanced visualizations for a southern Tomball gateway monument on Dec. 15, emphasizing visibility from the elevated 249 toll road and the need for a design that reads from multiple approaches. "This is concept number 1," Owens said as he led the council through a drive-through model that showed tall, illuminated steel panels spelling Tomball and stepped retaining walls designed for landscaping and taglines.

The second concept proposed sweeping sculptural pickets with graphics that could depict local history; the third carved out three thematic scenes—train, oil and agriculture—featuring murals and bronze sculptures. Owens said the three concepts were developed from earlier council feedback and that the materials and lighting were modeled to show daytime and nighttime visibility.

Council members praised the designs but raised practical concerns about parking, pedestrian safety and traffic sightlines at the narrow triangular site. Council discussion repeatedly returned to the idea of combining features: panel signage for high visibility with ground-level narrative scenes for local character. The consultant said that combination was feasible; he suggested using the same family of materials and scaled versions for smaller gateway locations.

The council directed staff to take the preferred direction to committee for refinement, including detailed review of grading, visibility triangles, setbacks and traffic/parking mitigation. No formal vote was taken on a preferred concept; staff will return with refined design options and cost estimates for committee consideration.