Austin Parks Foundation (APF) is pleased to award our latest ACL Music Festival Grants to parks across Austin! These grants help to fund improvements and amenities identified by community members and park adopters. These grants are in addition to the millions that APF invests in our parks each year.
Using ACL Music Festival funds, APF awards two types of grants: Neighborhood Grants ($500 – $5,000) and Community Impact Grants ($5,000+). Neighborhood Grants are designed for small-scale, community-initiated park improvements while Community Impact Grants are designed for large-scale park improvements.
In addition to these grants, ACL Music Festival Funds go toward capital projects, It’s My Park Day, year-round Open Workdays and unrestricted funds for the City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department park projects.
This round of grant projects include various sports equipment updates, new shade structures and everything in between! Take a look at what’s been completed and what’s coming to a park near you.
Completed Projects:
Neighborhood Grants
Rosewood Neighborhood Park (BDHS Building): Wall of Honor
The Greater East Austin Youth Association (GEAYA), which was created in 1971 to provide a space for black youth in East Austin to actively participate in youth sports, applied for an ACL Neighborhood Grant to fund a Wall of Honor at the Britton, Durst, Howard and Spence (BDHS) Building at Rosewood Neighborhood Park.
The wall is named in honor of the late L.D. Washington and Nathaniel Cannon and highlights men and women who served as coaches for the East Austin Youth Foundation and GEAYA.
Austin Parks Foundation granted the group $5,500 for the Wall of Honor, which was completed in August 2025.
Balcones District Park: Mulch Logs
In late summer 2025, mulch logs at Balcones District Park, which protected a meadow of wildflowers, were damaged. APF provided a $600 Neighborhood Grant to replace the mulch logs, which were installed by volunteers during It’s My Park Day – Fall 2025.
With the mulch logs in place, rain runoff from the parking lot is turned into a reliable water source for the grasses and wildflowers in the meadow, which serve as natural habitats for insects, birds, reptiles and more.
Community Impact Grants
Highland Neighborhood Park: Pedestrian Bridge
The Highland Park Neighborhood Association made connectivity happen when they applied for an ACL Community Impact Grant and were awarded $150,000 from APF for a pedestrian bridge connecting the park to Isabelle Drive.
The grant contributed to the pedestrian bridge project, which had a total cost of more than $295,000. APF was able to fund the entirety of this project as well as provide project management and implementation support for the bridge construction. Austin Parks and Recreation provided field inspection for the project.
Dottie Jordan Neighborhood Park: Playground shade structure
In fall of 2023, the University Hills Neighborhood Association applied for a Community Impact Grant from APF for a shade structure over their playground in order to increase the safety and usability of the playscape, especially during the summer months.
APF provided $85,000 for this project, which was completed in the fall of 2025.
Heritage Oaks Neighborhood Park: Nature Play
Cities Connecting Children to Nature (CCCN) is a national initiative that seeks to create more equitable and abundant access to nature in cities by seeking to ensure that a connection to nature becomes an integral part of city priorities.
Austin Parks and Recreation Department, with the help of CCCN, identified several parks in nature deficient areas in need of natural play: Heritage Oaks, Ron Rigsby and Walnut Bluffs were among the parks in need.
APF contributed $26,500 to add nature play elements to these spaces. The third and final project – Heritage Oaks – was completed in September 2025.
Barton Creek Greenbelt: Spyglass Trailhead updates
Due to years of rain and erosion, the steps at Spyglass Trailhead washed out. Friends of Spyglass Trailhead applied for a Community Impact Grant for new steps and a landing platform at the trailhead, along with a mulched path connecting Spyglass Trailhead with the Barton Creek Greenbelt Trail.
In addition to the new steps and landing platform, the $17,000 project included removal of posts and other abandoned material from the area, installation of berms and boulders to prevent future erosion, and reseeding of the wildflower area. The project was completed in November 2025.
Awarded Projects:
Neighborhood Grant
Mary Moore Searight Metropolitan Park: Disc golf baskets
Mary Moore Searight is one of the local disc golf courses that hosts the North American Disc Golf Championships, bringing over 800 visitors to Austin each year.
The baskets at Mary Moore Searight are in need of replacement, which led the Mary Moore Searight Disc Golf Club to apply for a Neighborhood Grant of $4,600.
In January 2026, members of the disc golf club, along with staff from the Austin Parks and Recreation Department will build and install 18 new baskets throughout the course.
Community Impact Grants
Pillow Elementary and North Shoal Creek Community Garden: Picnic tables and garden beds
In the fall of 2025, the North Shoal Creek Neighborhood Association (NSCNA), applied for a Community Impact Grant to conduct a series of park improvements at Pillow Elementary, which serves as a school park and community garden.
APF awarded $19,000 to fund the replacement of 16 picnic tables and community garden beds and the restoration of eco-educational gardens.
Austin Nature and Science Center: Updates to the Exhibit Hall
The permanent exhibit at the Austin Nature & Science Center, “Nature of Austin,” has been in place since 1989. This exhibit has exceeded its 15-year lifespan, and is now outdated and in disrepair, limiting the ANSC’s ability to engage visitors effectively.
APF awarded $50,000 to update features of the exhibit hall while also addressing accessibility issues to meet ADA compliance. These improvements to the exhibit hall will enhance the visitor experience and help the ANSC to meet its educational goals.
Mary Moore Searight Metropolitan Park: Swingset shade
Mary Moore Searight Metropolitan Park is a 300-acre park in south Austin that has 25,000 people visit the park each month. In order to make the playground more accessible year-round, a shade structure will be placed over the swing set as well as the 2-5-year-old playground.
APF has awarded $128,000 for this project through the ACL Board Designated Shade Fund Account after a community member applied for a Community Impact Grant.