Tag Archives: City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department
PARD gives update on cemetery improvement plans
Last September, around 15 gravestones were vandalized with blue paint at Evergreen Cemetery in East Austin, the city’s first municipal graveyard for Black residents when it was founded in 1926. Commenting on the event, Mayor Steve Adler tweeted that the…
Parks • By Sean Saldaña • Feb 17, 2021
Parks department needs 600 lifeguards by May
In anticipation of the upcoming swim season, Parks and Recreation Department Director Kimberly McNeeley submitted a memorandum to City Council on Jan. 22 that contained an update on maintenance and staffing in the city’s aquatics department. The memo states that the…
Parks • By Sean Saldaña • Feb 10, 2021
Parks department considers ways to standardize its partnerships
The Parks and Recreation Department is continuing its work creating uniformity and standards in partnerships with nonprofit organizations that are expected to play a larger role in maintaining and improving parks facilities in the coming years. At last week’s Parks and…
Parks • By Chad Swiatecki • Feb 2, 2021
Covid impacted Austin parks concessions
Like many other enterprises, concessions operating in Zilker Park and along Lady Bird Lake suffered various financial impacts last year due to Covid-19, according to a report from the city’s Parks and Recreation Department. Gross sales generated by Town Lake Park concessions fell…
Parks • By Jo Clifton • Jan 11, 2021
Citing disrepair, Council removes public artworks from display
Art left out in the elements doesn’t last forever. That’s why City Council just delisted five worn-out pieces of public art, including the Bicentennial Fountain at Vic Mathias Shores; LAB, the series of yellow sculptures along the Lance Armstrong Bikeway; and…
Austin • By Jonathan Lee • Dec 15, 2020
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.…
Parks • By Sean Saldaña • Dec 8, 2020
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New groups tee up, face off in ongoing Hancock golf course discussions
Austin’s Parks and Recreation Department has already faced pandemic-related delays over the past month in its efforts to gather feedback about the future of the 120-year old Hancock Golf Course. Meanwhile, a handful of vocal groups, some just weeks old,…
Planning • By Jackson Barton • Nov 17, 2020
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…
Parks • By Daniel Salazar • Nov 9, 2020
Council OKs purchase of Wood Street parkland
After a lengthy discussion about the rules regulating acquisition of city parkland, Council voted 7-2-2 on Thursday to purchase 0.214 acres of downtown property at 702 Wood St. Council members Jimmy Flannigan and Pio Renteria voted no, and Council Member…
Parks • By Jo Clifton • Oct 30, 2020
Council postpones $1.1 million acquisition of Wood Street property for new parkland
A small grassy field just off Sixth Street would provide easier access to the Shoal Creek Trail and preserve a historically significant piece of downtown, but City Council members delayed action on the $1.1 million purchase to address concerns that…
Parks • By Jackson Barton • Oct 26, 2020
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…
Parks • By Jessi Devenyns • Sep 29, 2020
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…
