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- How Trump’s federal funding freeze is beginning to affect Austin
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Parks
Summer pilot aims to save Zilker from parking overload
The first piece of a long-term effort to systematically rethink Zilker Park’s parking, transportation and environmental needs may come into play this summer with a short-term transportation pilot program aiming to reduce traffic and parking demand in and around the…
Parks • By Ryan Thornton • Apr 16, 2019
Project Catalyst and Country Club Creek Trail: An 'inopportune' overlap
At the same meeting of the Environmental Commission where citizens aired their concerns about the Northern Walnut Creek Trail, commissioners had questions about the Country Club Creek Trail off of Riverside Drive. Commissioners wanted to know how plans for the…
Parks • By Jessi Devenyns • Apr 10, 2019
Public expresses concern about Urban Trails causing erosion
In 2014, the city of Austin approved an Urban Trails Master Plan that laid out the path forward to construct 300 miles of non-motorized trails throughout the city. Five years later, construction is well underway, but community members have raised…
Parks • By Jessi Devenyns • Apr 8, 2019
Parks board OKs Givens Park Master Plan
After months of preparation and committee reviews, the Givens District Park Master Plan arrived before the Parks and Recreation Board on Jan. 22 as a consent item, only to be pulled due to members of the public who attended the…
Parks • By Jessi Devenyns • Jan 24, 2019
A new vision for Brush Square Park
City officials believe that Brush Square Park, home of the O. Henry Museum, the Susanna Dickinson Museum and Austin Fire Station 1, has the potential to be a downtown gem. As it stands, however, it is an inefficiently used piece…
Parks • By Jack Craver • Jan 23, 2019
Even with new funding, parks board says city has a long way to go to repair pools
The year 1996 was the gold standard for Austin’s city Aquatics Division, according to Richard DePalma, a member of the Parks and Recreation Board. Since then, “We’ve just continued to shrink.” At the Dec. 4 meeting of the board, DePalma…
Parks • By Jessi Devenyns • Dec 7, 2018
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City cemeteries will soon see the light with new bond funding and event space
The city of Austin has operated cemeteries since 1839; however, it was only in 2013 that the Parks and Recreation Department assumed responsibility for cemetery operations, at which point the department made a few changes. Despite funding challenges allowing for…
Parks • By Jessi Devenyns • Dec 6, 2018
The Norwood House may soon get a face-lift
On the northwestern corner of Interstate 35 and Riverside Drive is a plot of land that the city purchased in 1985 and that most Austinites know to be an off-leash dog park. However, also nestled on that same plot of…
Parks • By Jessi Devenyns • Nov 1, 2018
PARD unburies contract infringement with cemetery contractor
Recently, city auditors found major flaws in how the city manages its contracts, and based on the testimony by a citizen at the Oct. 23 Parks and Recreation Board meeting, the city’s cemetery contract may fall into that category. “We…
Parks • By Jessi Devenyns • Oct 29, 2018
Fee increase at Barton Springs among host of aquatics centers plans
A far-reaching analysis of changes in operations at the city’s pools and aquatics centers includes a jump in admission prices for Barton Springs, one of the city’s most popular tourist and recreation spots. The new fee schedule included in a…
Parks • By Chad Swiatecki • Sep 13, 2018
City doesn't want Austin Rowing Club's special deal to be too sweet
City Council voted in June to grant the Austin Rowing Club the unusual privilege of negotiating a contract renewal with the city without going through the typical bidding process. ARC and Council members argued that the special deal was warranted…
Parks • By Jack Craver • Sep 10, 2018
One part of Camelback PUD isn't controversial: A big new park
The Parks and Recreation Board couldn’t find anything bad to say about the parkland proposed as part of the Camelback PUD, a proposed mixed-use development on a 145-acre plot of land that fronts Lake Austin just west of Loop 360.…
