Members of the City Council Open Space, Environment and Sustainability Committee expressed delight Wednesday at the consensus among stakeholders over the Lamar Beach Master Plan, a proposed multimillion-dollar overhaul of Lamar Beach at Town Lake Metropolitan Park. Representatives of the West Austin Youth Association (WAYA), Austin Pets Alive! and Austin High School, all of which […]
Parks and Recreation Board
The city’s Parks and Recreation Board members deal with the acquisition, development, improvement, and maintenance of Austin’s parks and playgrounds.
Posted inParks
Proposal stirs debate over whether internet would bring Pokemon or porn to parks
Members of the Parks and Recreation Board recently painted two very different images of a proposal to investigate the idea of bringing free Wi-Fi access to Auditorium Shores. In an 8-1 vote at their Oct. 25 meeting, board members passed a plan to take the first exploratory steps to introduce public internet to Auditorium Shores, in […]
Posted inParks
Parks and Rec Board hopes to make golf courses self-sustaining
Worried that Austin’s municipal golf courses are sucking money away from the city’s already underfunded parks, the Parks and Recreation Board is investigating how to make the courses pay for themselves. The city’s municipal golf courses have been operating at a loss for the last four years because of various difficulties ranging from flooding to […]
Posted inElections
Gallo to remove opponent from Parks board
District 10 City Council Member Sheri Gallo has informed her appointee to the Parks and Recreation Board that she will be removed and replaced at today’s Council meeting. Alison Alter, who announced that she would run against Gallo in this November’s election, has been Gallo’s appointment to the board for the past year and a […]
Posted inTransportation
Parks and Rec Board questions repairs that could add to downtown gridlock
A routine park repair has triggered pent-up frustration over Austin’s infamously congested downtown traffic. At its meeting on July 26, members of the Parks and Recreation Board recommended a repair project that will force the closure of one lane of Cesar Chavez Street from West Avenue to San Antonio Street for the month of August. […]
Posted inParks
Parks and Rec budget bogged down by golf
The Parks and Recreation Board is concerned that expenses from Austin’s city golf courses will overshadow the other needs in its already tight budget. At their meeting on June 29, board members looked over a budget forecast that predicts an increase of $11.9 million for the next fiscal year. But they pointed out that the […]
Posted inParks
Parks board weighs in on Shoal Creek PUD
After more than three hours of presentations and testimony, the Parks and Recreation Board decided to send the message that the amount and quality of open space planned for The Grove at Shoal Creek Planned Unit Development is not to their satisfaction. There was a lot of confusion during the meeting, starting with the fact […]
Posted inParks
New study envisions major changes around Barton Springs Pool
Austin’s rapid population growth and development, along with Zilker Park’s aging facilities, are threatening Barton Springs, the pool and its bathhouse. In a presentation to the Parks and Recreation Board on Tuesday, city staff and members of the Barton Spring Conservancy laid out several recommendations to preserve and improve the area around Barton Springs Pool […]
Posted inParks
Changes to park renaming rules advance
It may soon be harder to name a park or facility in Austin after a person. At the Tuesday meeting of the Parks and Recreation Board, members voted 6-0 to recommend a draft ordinance that adds restrictions to rules regarding the naming of parks and facilities. The draft ordinance restricts both what they can be […]
Posted inCity Council
Austin Tennis Center renaming debate remains tied
Most people seem to agree that the Austin Tennis Center could use a new name, but City Council moved no closer to replacing the current, prosaic moniker Thursday afternoon. Instead, Council remained firm in its commitment to postpone the renaming in order to allow the Parks and Recreation Department to sort out its naming procedures, […]
Posted inPlanning
Stratus endorsed to transform Seaholm intake
The city’s Parks and Recreation Board has endorsed city’s staff recommendation that the city choose Stratus Properties to transform, operate and maintain recreational and meeting facilities at the historic Seaholm Power Plant intake facility on Lady Bird Lake. The vote was 6-0 with three abstentions. Two board members were absent. Those who abstained, Mark Vane, […]
Posted inParks
Zilker Cafe likely to change hands
The Parks and Recreation Board recommended a new contract for the Zilker Cafe on Tuesday after months of reviewing bids by several contractors. Rodriguez Concessions has held the existing contract since 1950. It was denied a five-year extension of that contract, which expired yesterday. The board voted 10-1 to recommend approval of the new contract […]