The city has identified $65 million in critical needs for cultural arts infrastructure projects that will be under consideration for a possible bond vote in 2024. A memo released last week spells out the progress being made on a handful of major creative space projects funded by the city. It also offers a glimpse at […]
City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department
The city department responsible for the city’s park system, rec centers, and associated infrastructure.
Posted inParks
After years of staffing woes, Austin finally hires enough lifeguards by start of swim season
Austin finally has enough lifeguards. This week, the city’s Parks and Recreation Department celebrated the hiring of more than 1,000 lifeguards this swim season. That allowed PARD to open all 32 operational pools in its expansive aquatics system and extend hours of operation at Deep Eddy Pool. In recent years, Austin has suffered from lifeguard […]
Posted inParks
City, conservancy moving ahead with Rainey Street safety improvements
The Parks and Recreation Department has proposed up to $1 million in permanent infrastructure improvements to enhance public safety along the Ann and Roy Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail in the Rainey Street District. A memo released last week by department Director Kimberly McNeeley informed City Council and Mayor Kirk Watson of the progress made on short-term […]
Posted inCity Hall
Insufficient staffing revealed in audit of fraud and waste at Parks and Recreation Department
A former employee of the city’s Parks and Recreation Department fraudulently submitted timesheets stating she was working, according to a report from the Office of the City Auditor, and she collected paychecks for six months in 2021 – although she did no work during that time. The report says that temporary employee Desarae Ybarra, who […]
Posted inParks
Study calls for formalizing partnership between parks department and foundation
Local parks advocates want the city and the Austin Parks Foundation nonprofit group to come to a formal agreement spelling out the roles and responsibilities between the two entities, with the hope of better addressing equity issues across the city’s massive span of parks facilities. That recommendation was one of the main findings of a […]
Posted inCity Hall
Ethics commission dismisses complaints over Zilker Park votes
The Zilker Metropolitan Park Vision Plan continues to generate controversy. This week, accusations about the motivations of two of the plan’s supporters came before the Ethics Review Commission. In April, Austinite Teri Adams filed two complaints with the Ethics Review Commission. One was against Hanna Cofer, a member of the Environmental Commission and chief operating […]
Posted inParks
Parks board recommends park safety task force
The Parks and Recreation Board is calling for City Council to establish a parks safety task force to evaluate park safety, consider whether to reinstate a parks police unit and recommend ways of supporting the growing number of homeless residents dwelling in city parks. The parks board unanimously recommended the task force at its April […]
Posted inParks
Parks board hears update on project to convert Nash Hernandez building into intergenerational community hub
The city’s Parks and Recreation Board reviewed progress in the ongoing effort to convert the Nash Hernandez building in East Austin into an intergenerational resource and activity center. At the board’s April 24 meeting, members of the Intergenerational Resource and Activity Center Advisory Group and facilitator Jacqueline Angel, a professor at the University of Texas […]
Posted inParks
City on track with lifeguard hiring, director says
Great progress has been made in the hiring of lifeguards, Parks and Recreation Department Director Kimberly McNeeley told City Council at Tuesday’s work session. In addition to the $20 per hour salary, McNeeley said those who complete their training and actually work as lifeguards can earn a $750 bonus. And anyone who completes the training […]
Posted inParks
Austin is short lifeguards every year. One problem is the application process.
Austin consistently struggles to fully staff its public pools. A report out last week from the Office of the City Auditor suggests part of that struggle is due to an overly complicated – and unreliable – application process to become a lifeguard. To fully staff its 34 pools, Austin Parks and Recreation says it needs at least 860 lifeguards […]
Posted inCity Hall
Conservation Corps sees success, and possible expansion, in city memo
An evaluation of the city’s Civilian Conservation Corps program shows that nearly 200 people have been placed in city jobs in areas that had been historically difficult to fill. A memo released last week by Kimberly McNeeley, director of the Parks and Recreation Department, gave a comprehensive progress report on the CCC, which was created […]
Posted inParks
A closer look at the park spaces included in Waterloo Greenway phase two
The city’s Parks and Recreation Board learned more this week about the park spaces included in the next construction phase of the Waterloo Greenway. Phase two, which kicks off this spring, will focus on the 14 acres along Waller Creek between Lady Bird Lake and Fourth Street known as the Confluence. The board was provided […]