Five new parks are joining Austin’s parks system, adding much needed green spaces to areas considered to be “park deficient.” Austin’s Watershed Protection Department has over the years acquired land for things like protecting the environment and managing floodwater. These properties are open green spaces, but because they’re not designated as parkland the city can’t […]
Parks
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Audit finds unpaid fees, lax rental practices at six PARD rec centers
The Office of the City Auditor has found widespread issues within the Austin Parks and Recreation Department related to inconsistent fee charges and collections for facility rentals at some community recreation centers. An audit report released Tuesday revealed that from January to July 2023, staff at six recreation centers — Austin Recreation Center, Dittmar Recreation […]
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After leak repairs, Barton Springs reopens weeks earlier than expected
In a piece of good news – especially as recent sweltering temperatures have confirmed that summer doesn’t end till late September – Barton Springs is set to reopen today, on a Thursday, no less. During weekly pool maintenance Aug. 29, Parks and Recreation Department staff discovered leaks – caused by a hole that had grown […]
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Barton Springs closed for weeks due to major leaks
Austinites looking forward to an end-of-summer celebratory Barton Springs dip this Labor Day weekend were disappointed, thanks to a safety hazard caused by two major leaks that has led to a weekslong indefinite closure of the pool. The pool has been out of commission since Aug. 29, when the city’s Parks and Recreation Department announced […]
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Hays Commons development’s parkland proposal wins support from Parks Board
The Parks and Recreation Board has given a proposed development its unanimous support based on the amount of parkland the builder has promised to provide on a nearly 500-acre site straddling Travis and Hays counties. The development, Hays Commons, is currently seeking to create a municipal utility district (MUD) through the Texas Commission on Environmental […]
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Parks board asks City Council to review why boating concession ordinance exempted community input
The Parks and Recreation Board wants City Council to reexamine, and possibly rescind, a 2019 ordinance allowing an adventure excursion company to operate a boating concession in East Austin without going through a public process. The company, called the Expedition School, is poised to begin building out its concession operations along Lady Bird Lake’s north […]
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Camp Mabry as a park? Author Lawrence Wright proposes new use for military base
Renowned author and journalist Lawrence Wright has unveiled a vision to turn the Camp Mabry military base in Austin into an urban state park with natural attractions and some development to complement the city’s other major parks spaces. Wright, an Austin resident who has won a Pulitzer Prize in addition to many other national awards, […]
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Parks board to ask Council to explain why it bypassed public input on a Lady Bird Lake boat rental concession
Members of the Parks and Recreation Board said Monday they will ask City Council to reexamine a 2019 ordinance that circumvented public input to allow an adventure excursion company to operate a boating concession on Lady Bird Lake. The request for Council reconsideration may be futile, board members also acknowledged. By the time the board […]
Posted inBudget
Parks board recommends beefing up funding for city parks maintenance
With increasing challenges in maintaining grounds within Austin’s busy parks system, the Parks and Recreation Board voted Monday to recommend that City Council allocate an additional $2.62 million to the Parks and Recreation Department budget for the new fiscal year. Of that amount, the board requested that $2.24 million be allocated toward parks maintenance, including […]
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After lake drownings, safety upgrades come to Rainey Street trailhead
Lee esta historia en español More than a year after community members called for better lighting and safety measures along a portion of Lady Bird Lake near Rainey Street, permanent upgrades are finally nearing completion. The pleas and demands came from family and friends of two men who drowned in the lake last spring near […]
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Parks Board hears from the public on the next (and former) PARD director
The Parks and Recreation Board got an earful of public testimony earlier this month regarding the city’s national search to replace former parks director Kimberly McNeeley. McNeeley recently left the Parks and Recreation Department after accepting the position of CEO of the Trail Conservancy, one of the department’s nonprofit partners. Several speakers, including some department […]
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Austin adds more than a dozen shade structures to recreation areas. Here’s where to find them.
In an effort to beat the heat, several shade structures are going up at public parks, playgrounds and pools around town. Austin dedicated $4 million to provide more shade in public places. City officials said it has become necessary as summer temperatures more frequently reach above normal, and falls and winters become more mild. Temperatures tend […]