Next week signals the close of many Austin municipal and neighborhood pools. Diving boards active throughout the summer months will be hushed as the kids who once tumbled from them head back to school. During these final days, volunteers with the city’s Parks and Recreation Department will be conducting informal surveys of pool users, asking […]
City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department
The city department responsible for the city’s park system, rec centers, and associated infrastructure.
Posted inBudget
Budget proposal catches Council off guard
With a city budget of $3.5 billion, there are a lot of line items that don’t get individual attention during Austin City Council’s budget talks. But on Monday, there was one Parks and Recreation Department allocation request that was curious enough to prompt questions from a number of Council members. The Parks and Recreation Department […]
Posted inMusic & Entertainment
Council reaches Fun Fun Fun Fest compromise
Amid concerns that Fun Fun Fun Fest would not take place this November at Vic Mathias Shores, City Council has intervened in negotiations between festival organizers and the city’s Parks and Recreation Department to ensure that it goes forward as planned. Council unanimously passed a resolution Thursday directing Parks and Recreation Department staff to allow […]
Posted inParks
Naming protocol on the way for city parks
The road to naming city parks and recreation facilities has been strewn with indecision and tough choices. And so, the Parks and Recreation Board on Tuesday said it would begin drafting its own protocol for the naming and renaming of its land and buildings. “This has been an issue that has really troubled us as […]
Posted inParks, Resources
Parks Department sat on Metz Pool repair bid for nearly 6 months
Although the city’s Parks and Recreation Department ordered the repair of an East Austin neighborhood pool in late April, it appears that the department had bids for the work for some time. This, even as department officials initially told residents that the pool would have to be closed for the 2015 summer season and then […]
Posted inParks, Resources
Communication breaks down between city and community over Sunken Garden tree removal
When the city of Austin’s Parks and Recreation Department decided to remove three trees from Sunken Garden, home to one of the three cardinal springs that feed Barton Springs, it did so before seeking community input — and now the feedback isn’t so favorable. Michael Fossum of the Austin Heritage Tree Foundation said it was not […]
Posted inParks, Resources
Should Austin’s small parks be held to different standards?
The Parks and Recreation Department says it does not make sense to create a unique policy addressing pocket parks – small urban parks less than 2 acres in size – despite the challenges faced by locals who say it has taken too long to build one in the Hyde Park neighborhood. Ricardo Soliz, manager of […]
Posted inParks
New parkland dedication fee would “maintain” park-to-person ratio
With recent unanimous approval from members of the city’s Planning Commission, the Parks and Recreation Department says it might soon be able to recalibrate the fee it charges residential developers in lieu of making parkland available. Developers unwilling or unable to put aside park acres in proportion to the amount of land on which they […]
Posted inPreservation
Cemetery chapel plans delight and irritate
Plans to restore a 100-year-old city-owned chapel in Oakwood Cemetery sailed through the Historic Landmark Commission at its last meeting. But future plans for the East Austin chapel have some people worried. The Parks and Recreation Department was seeking a certificate of appropriateness for the renovation of the 1914 chapel, which is located at 1601 […]
Posted inMusic & Entertainment
Parks Department collects more from special events ticket sales
The city of Austin collected more than double the previous year’s amount of money from Austin City Limits Music Festival ticket sales last year, following a new fee schedule adopted by City Council starting in the 2013-2014 budget year. In 2013, the city pocketed roughly $438,000 from ACL festival ticket sales. That revenue more than […]
Posted inMusic & Entertainment
Fun Fun Fun Fest fights for space
The battle rages bloodless over a 3-acre tract of dog park. The Parks and Recreation Department and the organizer of Fun Fun Fun Fest, Transmission Events, are ensnarled in a dispute over festival planning. At the center of that dispute is the new off-leash area at the renovated Vic Mathias Shores, formerly Auditorium Shores. If there […]
Posted inParks
Open-space recycling a challenge to city, says staff
Austin’s recycling requirements are ambitious, but they don’t cover one major area — open spaces. Now, the city is taking steps to make up for it. The Austin Resource Recovery Department recently performed an assessment on Parks and Recreation Department recycling efforts, and both are considering a plan to provide these services at city parks, […]