Today in Zilker Park

Home
Tips for speaking during public comment at COA meetings
Calendar of public speaking opportunities
A proposal to reduce trash in Zilker Park
Barton Creek banks in Zilker Park, photo journal
Bathhouse Rehab - Please "press PAUSE"
About PIR and ACAP requests for info
Butler Landfill
A Study: French Broad River Dog Park, Asheville, NC
Trail of Lights 2023: Selling Zilker Park at VIP prices, limiting hours of free access, and charging fees for children's "free admission on all event nights"

Barton Creek banks in Zilker Park, photo journal

Email This BlogThis!Share to X Share to Facebook Share to Pinterest

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)

A message to the Parks Board meeting 10-28-2024

As you may know, I and others have been conducting a citizens review of the contract for the Trail of Lights Foundation with the City. W...

How did the 2024 Limbacher-Godfrey re-design of the Barton Springs Pool Bathhouse pass review by the Texas Historical Commission?

Take a look at the 1946 historic design of the Barton Springs Pool Bathhouse (BSPBH) -- you still see many of the 1946 elements in our exist...
A photo catalogue of Zilker Park damages caused by the 2023 Trail of Lights (TOL)

Three areas of concern reported in photos: (1) Areas of the Great Lawn that have not been re-sodded after ACL and TOL (2) Landfill fencing d...
A Conversation About Capacity

Zilker Park would like to be welcoming to all. But no one enjoys overcrowding at a tourist attraction like Barton Springs Pool in Zilker Pa...

DP's Draft recommendations to improve Zilker Park FY25

DP Rec: Convert Butler Grass to green-surface parking lot for ANSC, ZBG, TOL and ABC; extend life of Butler Gravel by using exclusively for staging (AISD, ACL, TOL, etc))
DP Rec: Great Lawn rain gardens, berms and swales; improve water quality of Lady Bird Lake and reduce future erosion of riparian zone creek banks

Powerpoint Presentations by DP

Public education and survey taken Feb. 24 & 25, 2024: 135 people on South Congress Ave studied this 5-minute presentation signed a petition: Restore, don't Destroy Women's Historic Bathhouse
The Women Swimmers Technical Advisory Group forms and makes the following change order recommendations for the Barton Springs Pool Bathhouse
Why does the Barton Springs Bathhouse women's area make no sense? DP explains the "Anatomy of a Failed Design" that was based on pervious cover, not user experience

Useful links to research City of Austin

Active Contracts - Downloadable data set
Austin Finance Online
Boards and Commissions "Newspaper" of upcoming activities and past records
City Council Meeting Archives
City of Austin City Clerk EDIMS search
City of Austin EDIMS Official Memos search
Council Members’ Committees
Events search on CoA website
OPEN Data portal - All city expenses itemized by accounts
OPEN Data Visualizer - Expenses as of today
PIR = Public Information Requests
Search CoA Contracts - Open Data Portal
Search for Permits (ABC - Build and Connect)
Solicitations - Active
Solicitations - closed
TXDoT Traffic count map data

Interesting CoA links:

Annual CoA Surveys by ETC Institute
Austin Water - Center for Environmental Research/lectures
Austin’s Community Tree Priority Map
Bathhouse Rehab - Full Site Plan. from DSD Riley Triggs
Bathhouse Zone Feasibility Community Engagement 2015
Bathhouse Zone Feasibility Study 2016
Community Engagement of Bathhouse Rehab Plan
Corridor Mobility Program
Special Events Policies and Procedures
VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT OF AUSTIN’S URBAN FOREST AND NATURAL AREAS 2020

Enjoying New Year's Day at Barton Springs Pool with a few friends

About me, Diana Prechter, Austin, TX

After developing a passion for swimming in Barton Springs Pool which brought me to Zilker Park almost daily, I became a civic activist in March 2023. At that time, PARD (the Austin Parks and Recreation Department) and Design Workshop (contractor) had proposed putting a 2-level 1,000-car underground garage at the site of the Zilker Park Polo Field, and a 5K-seat amphitheater on the Zilker Park Great Lawn. These two new cement structures were to be connected with a land bridge. None of this made sense. In this website, I have documented several problems in Zilker Park due to neglect and mismanagement of resources by PARD: None of these problems would have been fixed with a parking garage, an amphitheater or a land bridge. The proposed Zilker Park Vision Plan seemed to be blind to the real problems in the park. These real problems are due primarily to periodic episodes of overuse (eroded creek banks from humans climbing in-and-out of the water over tree roots), overcrowding (hot summer weekends at the pool and spillway), and over programming (ACL and Trail of Lights). It has become my mission to try to bring public attention to the real challenges of Zilker Park created by the tension between the need to protect an ecologically sensitive area with the desire to make the park accessible to everyone in Austin. The ZPVP didn't propose a solution to that tension. It is now our job to ponder the long-term future of this lovely park, its place within the entire network of Austin's park lands, and the impact that we can have as individuals to alert elected leaders to the need for funding and preservation. The current forces impacting Zilker Park are unsustainable. Please consider coming to City Hall during citizen communication to let our council members know what the future of Zilker Park should look like for the next generations.

Useful links to help you get involved:

Calendar of City of Austin meetings offering opportunities for public comments:
Facebook: Save Zilker Park
RewildZilker.org
FreeZilker.org

This site contains the following articles by Diana Prechter

What was wrong with the Zilker Park Vision Plan? PARD poverty.
A Conversation About Capacity
High priority: Informal pathway erosion is now dangerous for pedestrians. Please add berms and three sets of stairs ASAP.
High priority: Unsafe dust conditions on Butler Landfill Gravel Lot (complaint filed with TCEQ 9/8/23)
High priority: Revegetation of Polo Field grass
High priority: Repair Barton Creek banks and adjacent riparian areas

Get the app to pre-pay your pool admission: For Apple iPhone

Get the app to pre-pay your pool admission: Google Play for android

Search This Blog

Home

About Me

dp

View my complete profile

Report Abuse

Blog Archive

▼ 2024 (10)
- ▼ October 2024 (3)
  - ▼ Oct 28 (3)
- ► April 2024 (1)
  - ► Apr 10 (1)
- ► February 2024 (2)
  - ► Feb 19 (1)
  - ► Feb 11 (1)
- ► January 2024 (4)
  - ► Jan 21 (3)
  - ► Jan 06 (1)

► 2023 (10)
- ► November 2023 (2)
  - ► Nov 24 (2)
- ► October 2023 (2)
  - ► Oct 26 (1)
  - ► Oct 23 (1)
- ► September 2023 (6)
  - ► Sep 29 (1)
  - ► Sep 17 (1)
  - ► Sep 10 (4)

Simple theme. Powered by Blogger.