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Tag Archives: City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department

Council wades nervously into pools plan

City Council delivered decidedly mixed reviews of the Parks and Recreation Department’s recently unveiled Aquatic Master Plan, with some Council members decrying what they fear is a plan to shut down neighborhood pools and others bemoaning the unequal distribution of…

Proposed bond includes big money for parks

The Austin parks system is looking to win big from a major bond that voters will likely be asked to approve in 2018. A citizen task force is currently in the process of drafting a general obligation bond to fund…

Reporter's Notebook: We have questions

Not a priority… When it comes to more transit priority lanes, Austin Transportation Director Robert Spillar is not running any red lights. At the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Traffic Jam last week, Spillar talked about the tricky nature of dedicating…

Austin pools face major problems

Austin pools are in big trouble. In a presentation to the Parks and Recreation Board Tuesday night, Acting Department Director Kimberly McNeeley described a system of aging pools that are on life-support due to a lack of investment in maintenance…

Plan ranks pools to pinpoint where city needs to dive in with repairs

The city of Austin’s Parks and Recreation Department will present the latest version of its Aquatics Master Plan to the public in two meetings this week. The city boasts 51 public pool facilities, including everything from splash pads to Barton…

Council to weigh move to limit events in major urban parks

Special events in the city’s three core parks will eventually be scaled back in coming years if City Council approves Thursday the first slate of measures aimed at preserving local parkland. The ordinance up for consideration would alter current rules…

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City looks to clean up graffiti program

A program that was originally intended to help at-risk youth gain job skills has evolved into a city-funded graffiti clean-up service that is doing the work that should be left to private property owners. “It’s a great program and we…

For many Austinites, city parks remain out of reach

From the hike and bike trail on Lady Bird Lake to Mount Bonnell, Austin is proud of its parks. But a new study ranking city parks around the country suggests that pride might not be fully justified. Austin ranked just…

Entertainment, arts returning to former 'Chitlin’ Circuit' hot spot in East Austin

An East Austin recreation center that was once a hot spot on the so-called “Chitlin’ Circuit” for African-American entertainers is expected to return to its roots as a hub of live entertainment and creative arts. Last month Austin’s Parks and Recreation…

Reporter's Notebook: Not our jam

Bit of turbulence during that pilot program… An attempt by the city’s Parks and Recreation Department to make “data driven decisions” went slightly off the rails at Tuesday’s City Council work session, where Council members learned that a “parks pass”…

Council ponders how to pay for golf

Most of Austin’s Parks and Recreation Department programs operate on money from the city’s General Fund, but at some point in the past City Council designated golf as an enterprise fund. City staff reported to Council at last week’s budget…

Reporter's Notebook: Honoring Mary Gay Maxwell

Remembering Mary Gay… A year after her death, the Environmental Commission remembered its former chair, and longtime Austin conservationist, Mary Gay Maxwell. The commission unanimously passed a resolution to rename the Slaughter Creek Management Unit on Wednesday night. The land’s…

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