The 2023 edition of the Austin City Limits Music Festival generated nearly half a billion dollars in economic impact for the area, according to results of an analysis released Monday. The fest’s $499.9 million in financial activity represented a 12 percent increase over the impact of the 2022 festival, with that figure equaling 3,766 full-time […]
City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department
The city department responsible for the city’s park system, rec centers, and associated infrastructure.
Posted inParks
PARD updates plans for new Dougherty and for cultural center expansions
The city is moving forward with plans to replace the Dougherty Arts Center with a new multiphased facility located in the Butler Shores Park area. The Parks and Recreation Department plans to begin the permitting process for the new arts center soon, while also conducting community engagement sessions and getting support from relevant boards and […]
Posted inPlanning
Study raises questions about senior/child care center proposed for Nash Hernandez Building
A new study calls into question the feasibility of proposals to use the Nash Hernandez Building in East Austin as an activity center for older people and young children. The report on the legal and financial realities of the intergenerational resource and activity center (IRAC) has caused staff from the Austin Public Health Department and […]
Posted inBudget
Parks Dept. looks to move forward with new, scaled-back Dougherty Arts Center
The replacement for the deteriorating Dougherty Arts Center will move forward in a phased approach, without the underground parking called for previously by City Council, in an attempt to dramatically reduce the cost of the new facility. During the Tuesday work session, Council heard a presentation from Parks and Recreation Department Director Kim McNeeley detailing […]
Posted inParks
Austin’s giant troll is finally finished. Here’s where you can find her.
Pease Park’s newest art installation is tucked away in the woods, but she’s hard to miss. Malin is an 18-foot-tall troll made of local and repurposed wood. And in her hands is an offering: a basin full of water to nourish the wildlife. But the water is there only if humans remember to pour it. […]
Posted inParks
There are two big trolls in neighboring Austin parks – and they might be in love
Pease Park will soon get an 18-foot-tall wooden troll sculpture. But ahead of its opening, Austinites can find a similar (if slightly more disheveled) troll at a miniature park just a few blocks away. “When I heard that the Pease Park was going to be installing that incredible troll as part of a big, large art […]
Posted inParks
Parks board blesses bathhouse renaming
More than 60 years ago, Joan Means Khabele jumped into Barton Springs Pool, launching a movement that led to its desegregation. Austin is now set to remember her legacy by renaming the Barton Springs Bathhouse after her. After being denied entrance due to the racist rules in place at the time, Khabele is known as […]
Posted inParks
City breaks ground on the Barton Springs bathhouse
Many years in the making, rehabilitation of the Barton Springs bathhouse is scheduled for a groundbreaking ceremony at 10 a.m. today. While the majority of attendees will surely cheer for the improvements the city promises under the Barton Springs Pool Master Plan, which City Council approved in 2009, there will be a few swimmers protesting […]
Posted inCity Hall
Funding gaps and future needs eyed in analysis of bond spending
Members of City Council have started to show some of their priorities for the city’s next bond package that would address needs for parkland and cultural centers, among other city departmental resources. Another concern expressed at last week’s Audit and Finance Committee meeting was the likelihood that the city will need to assess where it […]
Posted inParks
Money for city parks, facilities dwindling
James Snow, director of Capital Delivery Services for the city, on Wednesday gave the City Council Audit and Finance Committee a detailed view of how money has been spent from bonds approved by voters in 2006, 2012 and 2018, with an emphasis on parks, libraries, museums and cultural facilities. The city is more dependent on […]
Posted inWater
Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District installing two monitoring wells at Garrison and Zilker parks
This month, the Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District will install two new scientific monitoring wells in Garrison and Zilker parks. The new wells will be used to collect information about Edwards Aquifer water level and quality, as well as further the city’s federally mandated task of protecting the health of the endangered Barton Springs and […]
Posted inParks
Bathhouse working group suggests city start process to rename Barton Springs
At its regular meeting on Nov. 27, the Parks and Recreation Board heard from the Barton Springs Bathhouse Working Group about its report, which includes a list of potential names for an updated bathhouse in addition to calling for the city to also reexamine the name of Barton Springs. The working group was established to […]