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HOUSTON (FOX 26) - Its been 10 days since Lori Cott has been able to walk Nala through Discovery Green even though she lives right across the street. "I'm glad to be able to cross the fences. Our building was in the security area so you could walk outside but across the fence there were piles of people. It's nice to have it open again."
Streets in the area are still blocked off and will be until Wednesday according to a city spokesperson. Work crews are feverishly dismantling the temporary news sets and attractions. We found triumphant Patriots fan Ed Saab at the NFL Fan Store. He has been to seven Super Bowls. He says the park was too small for the crowds, but still he gives it high marks.
"The hospitality was great. Like the last time when we played Carolina," Saab said.
Clearing out the park will be easy. Repairing it will be another. While there doesn't appear to be any major damage to the infrastructure, the grass seems dead and the landscaping on life support. How much will that cost and how long will it take? The management of Discovery Green says it's up to the Super Bowl Host Committee to handle those details. It had control of the park for the festivities. But Lori Cott thinks things probably look worse than they are.
"The grass will be green. They've brought it back before. They've had many events here and it's been brown but in a couple of weeks it's back to green and it's great," Cott said.
We tried to get a cost estimate and timeline from host committee members. At the hand off ceremony this morning, they said they were going home, turning off their phones and catching up on sleep. After all, they did just throw a 3-day party.