The 2025 15-year Austin City Limits (ACL) Contract could have been the tool the Parks Department needs to raise money to restore vast acres of Zilker Park.
It is obvious to both tourists and residents that the park is degrading over time.
ACL Fest has expanded its footprint in recent years. A lot of long-term damage has been done to the acres between Barton Springs Road and the pool: These acres have no permanent irrigation. Stratford Lot and Polo Field are subjected to extreme abuse by being used as illegal parking lots year-round. A long-term -- and legal -- improvement to the Stratford Lot (Butler Landfill) is desired by the Watershed Protection Department.
The annual remediation to these park elements are minimal: only a return to baseline before the ACL event occurred. The long-term degradation -- and its causes -- have not been addressed by the Parks Department or the Austin Parks Foundation (the nonprofit partner of ACL).
I’m afraid that if we don’t look at the 15-year ACL contract in depth — right now — we will lose a window of opportunity to cancel and redraft the contract to get more money from ACL festival organizers C3/Live Nation: Money needed to restore the natural environment of Zilker Park.
My personal passion is to protect and restore the Zilker Park Polo Field, about 7 acres of prime parkland in Austin's “jewel” that could be converted to recreational use. At present it is still used as a parking lot for large events, a weekend lot for visitors, and as a staging-and-staff lot for ACL.
In 2018, Council hoped to find a solution to the illegal parking lot problems in Zilker Park:
[See the 2018 Council Resolution 20180628-072:
"the Polo Fields are located over the recharge zone for Barton Springs, making parking in the space less than desirable; "
"in order to accommodate the current visitation numbers, Zilker Metropolitan Park operationally utilizes both the Polo Fields and the Stratford Drive landfill space to accommodate temporary parking and temporary staging for special events, instead of restoring and utilizing these as green spaces for park use;"
I have assumed that the only reason the City of Austin Parks department -- and City Council -- have not authorized the complete environmental restoration of the Polo Field in Zilker Park is "lack of money" because the political problems preventing the Polo Field restoration have been solved:
(1) In several actions, the citizen-led Parks Board and Environmental Commission have recommended closing the Polo Field as a parking lot and for its restoration as a natural surface.
https://services.austintexas.gov/edims/document.cfm?id=423161
https://services.austintexas.gov/edims/document.cfm?id=416101
https://services.austintexas.gov/edims/document.cfm?id=300927
https://services.austintexas.gov/edims/document.cfm?id=412493
(2) One part of those citizen-recommendations was for the City to identify an external parking lot — within walking or shuttle distance — for future special events held in Zilker Park. Luckily, in 2024 the City of Austin purchased two large commercial buildingson MoPac -- located just outside Zilker Park -- with two large parking garages. Mayor Watson told the public that the large garages could be used for Zilker Park's special events -- while increasing revenue for the City:
Mayor Watson, Oct. 11, 2024: "In addition, the location near Zilker Park creates great opportunities to address parking needs for that important city park and generate additional revenue for the City using the two on-site garages for public parking during festivals, events, and other activities." (source: https://www.austintexas.gov/watson-wire-archives#GettingAwayFromDirtSorry)
Since Mayor Watson has identified the external parking garages for Zilker Park's events, and the citizen-led Parks Board and Environmental Commission want the Polo Field closed as a parking lot and restored as a natural surface for recreation and positive environmental benefits, I can only assume the remaining piece of the puzzle is “lack of money.”
I believe the ACL organizer C3/Live Nation should be held to a higher standard for both the annual rent they pay to the CoA for the next 14 years, and for one time gifts to the City for park infrastructure improvements.
What didn't happen:
It has become obvious that neither the Parks Department nor the Austin Parks Foundation want to tackle the hard problems of Zilker Park: weekend and special event parking on illegal surfaces and long-term year-round environmental damage.
What could be:
The ACL Contract is easy to cancel (requires only 30-days notice from the City to the Organizer) and could be re-negotiated to deliver the money needed to make improvements to the long-neglected environmental problems in Zilker Park.
