With the opening of the Walnut Creek and Mabel Davis pools over the weekend, all municipal pools in Austin are up and running for the summer. The city says it’s waiting until smaller neighborhood pools are properly staffed before opening them, however. Jodi Jay, aquatics division manager for the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, said […]
Parks
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Kitchen backs reopening Butler Park golf course contract
City staff has been directed to examine options to reopen the bid process for management of the Butler Park Pitch and Putt golf course so the longtime owner of the course can be considered for a contract extension. City Council Member Ann Kitchen, whose South Austin district includes the parkland property off South Lamar Boulevard […]
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With mural saved, East Austin groups seek clarity on public art process
A community gathering Wednesday at Givens Park in East Austin is expected to look at how the city and residents can work together to prevent a repeat of controversy over a mural created to memorialize a recent murder victim. The event, which starts at 6 p.m., was organized last week in the midst of discussions […]
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Golf course owner hopes Council will intervene in Butler Park contract dispute
The owner of Butler Park Pitch & Putt golf course is hoping City Council will reopen the contract process that threatens to end the nearly 70-year family operation. Lee Kinser, owner and president of the small golf course tucked off South Lamar Boulevard, is appealing to the community to bring attention to the city’s decision […]
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Parks and Recreation lacks $2.4 million in funding, potentially faces more cuts
As the question of property tax caps continues to loom in the state Legislature, city departments are wrestling to pare down their budgets in anticipation of what management expects to be a $51.7 million gap in funding for the entire city by 2022 (estimate made per 2.5 percent rollback rate). For the Parks and Recreation […]
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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 park. Pending action by City Council, the pilot would include a number of suggestions generated […]
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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 Country Club Creek Trail could be impacted by the controversial 97-acre development known as Project […]
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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 some concerns about the environmental impacts of one of the trails on the east side […]
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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 meeting to ensure that their opinions were heard alongside those of city staff. Larry Thomas, […]
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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 of prime downtown property that attracts crime. Beyond people walking their dogs through the park, […]
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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 noted that the Parks and Recreation Department continually lists 40 pools on the books, but […]
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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 only 50 percent of the staff that the city originally allocated for cemeteries, the Parks […]