A study from the National Golf Foundation recommends that the city consider revamping the aging Hancock Golf Course at 41st and Red River streets and transforming it into a modern golf learning center. This is just one of several recommendations in a lengthy report commissioned by the Austin Parks and Recreation Department to address the […]
Parks
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One year later: The new life of the old Onion Creek flood plain
Since 1999, the city of Austin has been working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to buy homeowners out of the Onion Creek flood zone. Last year, when the Watershed Protection Department completed the buyout program, 813 houses had been removed out of harm’s way. Although 10 homeowners refused the buyout offer, Leah Gibson […]
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Environmental Commission gives Walter E. Long Park plan the green light, with conditions
Following the lead of the Parks and Recreation Board, the Environmental Commission unanimously approved the new master plan for East Austin’s Walter E. Long Park. The vote, however, came with a host of conditions. The commissioners expressed concern that the Parks and Recreation Department had not yet performed an environmental assessment of the land nor […]
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Walter E. Long Park plan, all $800 million of it, gets parks board approval
With an eventual price tag expected to exceed $800 million and a timeline likely stretching more than two decades, members of Austin’s Parks and Recreation Board unanimously voted to approve a new master plan for East Austin’s Walter E. Long Park. At last week’s meeting, the board drilled into several components of the five-phase plan […]
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Zilker’s botanical garden admission remains unchanged for now
City Council claimed to have residents in mind at its June 19 meeting when it denied a chance to save some money by giving the Zilker Botanical Garden Conservancy a little more control over the garden’s operations and finances. In order to make some much-needed improvements, the Conservancy asked Council to raise entrance fees from […]
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Parks working group to look for new revenue options
The city’s parks board is set to look for new ways to fund the needs of the city’s parks system, in an attempt to deal with anticipated tight city budgets as a result of coming caps on revenue enacted by the state. Last week’s meeting of the Parks and Recreation Board saw unanimous passage of […]
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Austin City Council vote brings new management to Butler golf course after 70 years under one family
The Austin City Council voted 8-3 on Thursday to lease Butler Pitch and Putt golf course to Pecan Grove Partners, marking the end of an era for the Kinser family, who have run the course since construction began in the late 1940s. City Council members agreed with city staff recommendations and a Parks and Recreation […]
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Visions of Zilker Park split over parking
After months of meetings beginning in September of last year, the Zilker Park Working Group was not able to reach a consensus on recommendations for the Polo Fields and Butler Landfill, two areas currently used for overflow parking. According to an introductory statement to the Zilker Working Park Group’s Final Report, which was posted online […]
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Amphitheater, planetarium among $880M in improvements planned for Walter Long Park
Money from last year’s bond package approved by voters in November is expected to be used to fund the first of hundreds of millions of dollars in improvements and development at Walter E. Long Metropolitan Park in East Austin. Family-style recreation amenities to an existing park area off Decker Lake Road would represent the first […]
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No decision on Butler Pitch & Putt contract
With Mayor Steve Adler and Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison both absent for a vote at Thursday’s meeting, City Council has postponed approving a contract of up to 20 years for Pecan Grove Golf Partners for managing Austin’s nearly 70-year-old Butler Park Pitch & Putt golf course. Council will be taking up the contract for a […]
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Start of summertime brings trash to Austin’s greenbelts
Austin’s greenbelts, though beautiful, have had a fraught history of visitors contaminating the wild beauty of the Central Texas landscape with their trash. At the May 28 meeting of the Parks and Recreation Board meeting, Board Member Rich DePalma brought parks department staff and board members’ attention to this unfortunate, ongoing issue. DePalma said he […]
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Parks board critiques Butler Pitch & Putt solicitation, recommends change of hands
The Parks and Recreation Board yielded to the authority of city procedure Tuesday when it passed a recommendation for Council to approve an agreement with Pecan Grove Golf Partners to take over the management of Butler Park Pitch & Putt golf course in August. Several residents showed up to defend the longtime manager of the […]