On Tuesday, the Travis County Commissioners Court discussed what to do about the Palm School. On June 15, commissioners rejected the city’s 2020 offer to buy the Palm School building. The news disappointed many in the Latino community who had hoped a transfer of ownership would take place so that the building would remain a […]
District 9
Posted inParks
Naming process for Waterloo Park features raises questions about equity
What’s in a name? That question quickly moved to the fore of a Parks and Recreation Board discussion last week about proposed names for new features at Waterloo Park, which is set to reopen to the public Aug. 14 after years of renovation work and a rebranding process. For starters, the names proposed for key […]
Posted inPlanning
County rebuffs city’s offer to buy Palm School, leaving its future uncertain
In a vote few people were aware of until last week, the Travis County Commissioners Court rejected the city of Austin’s offer to purchase the historic Swante Palm School building on the eastern edge of downtown. Community activists, who for years have advocated preserving the school to honor its Mexican American history, were not aware […]
Posted inZoning
Downtown co-living project gets Planning Commission support
Shoal Cycle, a 70-unit co-living project planned for 812 W. 11th St., went to the Planning Commission Tuesday to seek Downtown Mixed-Use (DMU-CO) zoning with a conditional overlay bumping the allowable building height to 90 feet. The commission voted to support the rezoning and the developer’s requested height, but tacked on a clause limiting any […]
Posted inAustin
Council OKs new direction on convention center reconstruction
The city will move ahead with another attempt to remake the Austin Convention Center, following the decision in April to abandon a planned westward expansion and reconstruction that would have been completed in two phases. Earlier this month City Council unanimously approved two largely procedural resolutions related to the convention center and plans now to […]
Posted inAustin
Austin police officers clear homeless encampments around City Hall
Austin police officers on Monday cleared encampments around City Hall that were erected by people experiencing homelessness. The city said in a statement that officers were moving people from the corner of Guadalupe and Cesar Chavez streets for construction work. The city said officers met with people staying in tents in the morning and told them […]
Posted inPreservation
Former Long Estate granted demolition permit after March fire
Last month, the Historic Landmark Commission unanimously voted to issue a demolition permit for 2308 Woodlawn Blvd., a property located in the Old West Austin National Register Historic District. Unlike many demolition permit requests that the landmark commission hears, this one was not the result of dilapidation or part of a process to drastically redesign […]
Posted inPlanning
Palm planning process kicks off, with school preservation a key goal
After years of talk, a long-held dream of creating a district that celebrates the cultural history of a historically Hispanic neighborhood in the eastern segment of downtown Austin is finally ramping up with the Palm District Planning Initiative. The planning area includes Waller Creek, the Red River Cultural District, Palm School, Rainey Street, the Emma […]
Posted inPreservation
Last residential house on Rainey cleared for demolition by landmark commission
In 2019, a KUT report introduced Austinites to John Contreras, then known as “The Last Man on Rainey Street.” Rainey Street, historically a residential neighborhood, has become one of the city’s most prominent centers for nightlife and large-scale development. Contreras’ story was noteworthy because unlike many current Rainey Street residents, he didn’t live in an […]
Posted inParks
Waterloo Greenway seeks alcohol permit before its August debut
A decade after closing for Waller Creek tunnel repairs, Waterloo Park, which once stretched along the shadows of state-owned parking garages, has morphed into the renovated and rebranded Waterloo Greenway, poised to reopen in August. The once no-frills park, home to many iconic community events over the decades, will feature a new Moody Amphitheater, a […]
Posted inPreservation
Jackson-Novy-Kelly-Hoey House gets approval for front-yard pool
This week, the Historic Landmark Commission revisited a case from March in which homeowners at 2406 Harris Blvd. had requested a certificate of appropriateness to put a pool in their front yard. The issue raised concerns among commissioners because the property is home to the historic Jackson-Novy-Kelly-Hoey House. At the time, the commissioners seemed to […]
Posted inParks
Council OKs Pease Park public-private partnership
City Council on Thursday approved a public-private partnership between Pease Park Conservancy and the Parks and Recreation Department, making the conservancy the official private steward of the park. Initially, the conservancy will oversee event programming, capital improvements and maintenance to Kingsbury Commons, a 7-acre section of the park that has undergone extensive renovation. As the […]