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Tag Archives: City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department
PARD details the search for a new home for a newish boathouse
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…
Parks • By Amy Smith • Jan 14, 2022
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…
Parks • By Jonathan Lee • Jan 6, 2022
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…
City Hall • By Jo Clifton • Dec 7, 2021
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…
Parks • By Amy Smith • Dec 6, 2021
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…
Preservation • By Willow Higgins • Nov 11, 2021
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…
Parks • By Jonathan Lee • Oct 29, 2021
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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…
City Hall • By Amy Smith • Oct 29, 2021
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…
City Hall • By Jo Clifton • Oct 27, 2021
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…
City Council • By Amy Smith • Oct 26, 2021
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…
Parks • By Chad Swiatecki • Oct 18, 2021
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…
Development • By Chad Swiatecki • Oct 12, 2021
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…
