I'll be using my public information request (PIR) research to share with the general public what I've learned about the Joan Means Khabele Bathhouse rehabilitation project at Barton Springs Pool. This series will cover:
- The costs — how much public and private money has gone into this project, and where it came from.
- The design options shown to the public, side by side:
- (a) the 1946 original historic plan, which the rehab project promised to restore the "character and quality" of;
- (b) the 2008 Limbacher Master Plan (bathhouse section);
- (c) a 2016–2017 Barton Springs Conservancy (BSC) design for a new stand-alone visitor center to hold BSC storage, exhibits, and an education center;
- (d) the concepts Austin stakeholders rated highest in an October 2018 values workshop — Rotunda Concept 4.2, Women's Concept 3, Men's Concept 1 — later shown again at an October 2019 design-update meeting;
- (e) the full 2024 architectural plans that were actually built.
- Select project objectives compared to what was actually delivered.
- Possible operational issues, including: safety egress during an emergency evacuation of the entire north pool's visitors; Rotunda air conditioning with an entrance/exit door sized for one person at a time; and staff and City of Austin employee storage shortages.
- The donor plaque issue — revisiting the project's costs.
This project had a completion deadline of November 30, 2025 — the Final Completion date set by the City's own Change Order 10. As of this post, we are roughly 292 days past that deadline, and the Grand Opening is now scheduled for mid-October 2026.
The Costs
(1) How much public money has been invested in the bathhouse?
$18,315,781
- 2012 Bond (Prop 14) — $2,098,100
- 2018 Bond (Prop C) — $257,871
- Historic Preservation Fund (Hotel Occupancy Tax) — $14,718,060
- Austin Water — $75,000
- Austin Watershed Protection Dept. / Salamander Conservation Fund — $290,750
- Zilker Parking Fees — $311,000
- Council Appropriation, Adult Changing Table (FY24) — $100,000
- One-Time General Fund Transfer to CIP (FY23) — $465,000
Source: City PIR response, PIR #C201348-110123.
(2) How much came from private donations?
$3,834,000 — all from Barton Springs Conservancy (BSC).
Source: City fiscal-note record, PIR #C332202-090226 (5 recorded BSC payments, 2019–2025); see also the City's EDIMS fiscal-note record for the underlying $3,000,000 + $384,000 BSC agreement. Independently confirmed: BSC's own website states its private fundraising total is “$3,384,000” (BSC hasn't yet updated its site for the 5th, 2025 payment).
(3) Total for the bathhouse rehab?
$22,149,781 ($18,315,781 public + $3,834,000 private)
Note: the City's own original PIR #3 summary put the full-project total at $21,699,781 — that figure used BSC's earlier $3,384,000 total, before the 5th, $450,000 payment (January 2025) came to light. The $22,149,781 figure above reflects that later correction.
(4) How much did BSC fund, and are we sure about that amount?
$3,834,000. Yes — confirmed by the City's fiscal records.
A City-provided funding summary I received separately still shows BSC's total as $3.38M; it hasn't been updated for this $450K payment, which the City's own fiscal-note record (via a separate records request) confirms was recorded in January 2025.
All private donations to the project passed through BSC.
(5) How much is being spent on interpretation and exhibits?
Unknown.
Here's what is known: BSC paid $384,000 toward the exhibits (per PIR #C332202-090226), and two City sources — the Salamander Conservation Fund ($291,000) and Austin Water ($75,000) — add another $366,000. Combined, that's $750,000 in known dollars connected to the exhibits. It is unknown whether taxpayers contributed additional dollars, beyond this $750,000 of combined private and public money, toward the exhibits.
No one has publicly disclosed a total exhibits cost. Also unknown: what portion of the Rotunda A/C upgrade — which a 2023 cost-cutting proposal recommended dropping, but which was ultimately kept — should be attributed to exhibit needs versus general building comfort.
