On Feb. 23, Janee Briesemeister, who chairs the Commission on Seniors, sought the Parks and Recreation Board’s endorsement for a recommendation passed by the senior commission back in January. The recommendation advocates for “the placement of benches on trails and other developed parkland areas” by promoting the Memorial Bench Program, a Parks and Recreation Department-run program […]
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
Parks board asks Council to update rules for naming facilities, features
The city will change its rules for naming parks and the amenities within them, in a move to increase equity and add more public input to the process commonly used to honor community leaders. The Parks and Recreation Board voted unanimously this week to ask City Council to update the city ordinance covering the naming […]
Posted inParks
Parks board pushes for easement, land dedication on S. Congress project
The Parks and Recreation Board found that a development along South Congress Avenue adjacent to Williamson Creek must provide parkland as part of its site plan approval process, and cannot pay a fee in lieu of that donation. The board voted 10-1 at Tuesday’s meeting to support the recommendation of city parks staff, pushing the […]
Posted inParks
Parks board tables renaming recommendations for Council
The Parks and Recreation Board has once again taken up the task of suggesting revisions to the city’s naming and renaming ordinance, the law that lays out guidelines for the naming process behind city facilities like parks, sports complexes, pools, and other public gathering places. According to the parks board, “The current process and timeline […]
Posted inParks
Discussions continue about Hancock Golf Course’s insolvency
Parks and Recreation Assistant Director Anthony Segura and Division Manager for Golf Operations Kevin Gomillion gave an update on the community engagement status of the Hancock Golf Course’s revenue troubles at the Dec. 4 special Parks and Recreation Board meeting. A six-year financial analysis reveals that since 2015, the golf course has lost over $1 […]
Posted inParks
Parks board wants bigger say on financial, budget issues
The Parks and Recreation Board is making a move to dive deeper into the financial and budgetary issues that affect the city’s parks department. At the board’s Oct. 27 meeting, Board Member Sarah Faust made a recommendation to modify the board’s bylaws to terminate its Land, Facilities and Programs Committee and replace it with a […]
Posted inParks
PARD contends with homeless encampments during pandemic with limited resources
With nearly 300 parks and 17,409 acres of property to oversee, Wes Bickham, an environmental coordinator with the Parks and Recreation Department, has a lot of ground to cover in his work finding alternative solutions for people experiencing homelessness who are camping on city park grounds. Couple this vast expanse of city greenery with the […]
Posted inParks
Parks board pushes against long-term reservation program for parks
Every year when the weather warms up, the city’s parks and greenbelts fill up. This year, that trend has been amplified by the pandemic as Austinites flock to city parks, causing some of the most popular outdoor spaces to hit capacity, close their gates and begin monitoring the numbers of visitors. This May, in an […]
Posted inParks
City to consider Walter Long park vision, while county moves ahead with expo center plans
City Council will consider and possibly adopt the vision plan for Walter E. Long Metro Park later this month, more than a year after the plan was recommended for adoption by the Parks and Recreation Board. A memo late last month from Parks and Recreation Department Director Kim McNeeley said the department is ready to […]
Posted inPlanning
Goodnight Ranch working on PUD amendment, adds extra parkland
Goodnight Ranch, a planned unit development off Slaughter Lane in Southeast Austin, was originally approved in 2006. Fourteen years later, the neighborhood’s developers are looking to amend the PUD in order to create a municipal management district, add additional permitted land uses and increase the development entitlements. The city of Austin originally granted the 695-acre property […]
Posted inParks
City gets parks board blessing to rename Metz Recreation Center
Austin is now one step closer to officially changing the name of the Metz Recreation Center at 2407 Canterbury St. to the Rodolfo “Rudy” Mendez Recreation Center. On June 24, the Parks and Recreation Board unanimously recommended that City Council change the name of the East Austin recreation center – which is currently named after […]
Posted inParks
Parks board recommends not installing metered parking at parks
Parking in Austin is a precious commodity. It has also become more expensive for many residents who use the city’s parks for recreation. After hiking the prices for metered parking to $2 an hour last year, the city announced it will add Deep Eddy to the list of parks with metered parking, which includes the Emma […]