It’s not every day that 300 people show up for a local webinar, but when a future rail system threatens to collide with a popular rowing center and cafe, community members tend to take note. The occasion in this case was a community engagement forum on Wednesday that was part of City Council’s direction to […]
City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department
The city department responsible for the city’s park system, rec centers, and associated infrastructure.
Posted inParks
Makeover planned for Violet Crown trailhead at Zilker Park
Significant improvements are coming soon to the beginning of the Violet Crown Trail at Zilker Park, including an overlook and an entrance worthy of what may someday be Austin’s longest urban trail. The new overlook, shaded by a heritage pecan tree, will offer views of Barton Creek and include seating and educational signs. Several hundred […]
Posted inCity Hall
Staff reports on relocating Waller Creek Boathouse
When construction of new transit lines gets underway, buildings, streets and other parts of our urban environment will naturally be torn down. One structure that needs to make way for the Project Connect Blue Line is the relatively new Waller Creek Boathouse, home of the Austin Rowing Club. When City Council members approved the joint powers […]
Posted inParks
Parks board takes long view toward managing watercraft on Lady Bird Lake
Concession operations at Town Lake Metropolitan Park, which includes recreational spots along Lady Bird Lake and Zilker Park, provided about $750,000 in revenue to the city’s General Fund in 2021. That’s due in large part to Austin’s population surge as well as more people in general enjoying outdoor activities this year. “We know anecdotally that […]
Posted inPreservation
Montopolis school for Black students reopened its doors as neighborhood fights for preservation
Montopolis Negro School, a segregation-era grade school for Black children, reopened its doors on Saturday, welcoming Montopolis residents new and old, including some former students, back to an alma mater that hasn’t operated as a school in 60 years. The Parks and Recreation Department hosted the open house to give community members an opportunity to […]
Posted inParks
Planning Commission denies alcohol sales at Zilker Cafe
The Planning Commission Tuesday rejected the latest request to sell alcohol at Zilker Cafe amidst concerns about safety and unruly behavior at nearby Barton Springs Pool. The decision throws into doubt beer and wine sales at the recently renovated concession stand. While the Parks and Recreation Department – the applicant for the conditional use permit […]
Posted inCity Hall
Parks board unhappy with PARD’s handling of parkland fee dustup
In mid-September, the Parks and Recreation Board heard a briefing from staffers that included a video extolling the benefits of the city’s Parkland Dedication Ordinance, which requires developers to dedicate on-site parkland or pay a fee-in-lieu toward the acquisition and development of parks. But that rosy picture of the ordinance was overshadowed at Tuesday’s meeting […]
Posted inCity Hall
Audit finds golf chief accepted favors from employee
The superintendent for the Parks and Recreation Department’s golf complex accepted favors from an employee he directly supervises, according to a recently released investigative report from the Office of the City Auditor. After receiving an allegation that Nick Smitham, the golf complex supervisor, directed a PARD employee to repair Smitham’s personal vehicles, members of the […]
Posted inCity Council
Council denounces ‘false choice’ of pitting parkland against affordability
More than two months after City Council passed a new budget that took effect Oct. 1, city management now wants to freeze one of the adopted fee schedules as it relates to the amount developers pay toward parkland acquisition and development. While some Council members appeared ready to deny the request at the outset, a […]
Posted inParks
Environmental, neighborhood groups call for ‘rewilding’ Zilker Park
One of the city’s main environmental groups hopes to increase biodiversity and reduce the impact of visitors to Zilker Park by pushing for more natural growth of trees and other plant life in the popular central city park. The Save Our Springs Alliance recently released a report from restoration ecologist and park planner Elizabeth McGreevy that […]
Posted inDevelopment
PARD proposes delaying fee change that would double parkland costs for developers
The Parks and Recreation Department will likely ask City Council to delay a scheduled doubling this budget year of the fees developers pay to fund the acquisition and development of parkland around the city. The dramatic increase is the result of guidelines laid out in the 2016 revision to the Parkland Dedication Ordinance that called […]
Posted inBudget
Park rangers get funding for six additional staff members
For months, the Parks and Recreation Department has been pleading for additional park ranger staffing resources. Finally, the city has answered its prayers with $615,000 in increased funding for the department’s Park Ranger program. In a memo sent to Mayor Steve Adler and City Council last Friday, Assistant City Manager Rey Arellano detailed a number of budget items and […]