Today in Zilker Park: Barton Creek banks in Zilker Park, photo journal

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.

Today in Zilker Park

Barton Creek banks in Zilker Park, photo journal

11-24-23 Update on Lou Neff Point and nearby tree loss in Zilker Park

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