Austin Parks Foundation is taking part in the international Giving Tuesday on December 3rd, and we want YOU to join us! In addition to some amazing partners giving back when you visit, we’re also hosting a ticket giveaway thanks to our friends at ACL Music Festival when you donate. Check out what our friends and sponsors around Austin are doing …
Code What? A primer on the new land development code & parkland dedication
UPDATE: What’s happened with the LDC since October? A lot has happened since we first updated you on Austin’s ongoing efforts to revise its Land Development Code (LDC). In December, Austin’s City Council approved the new, proposed LDC on first reading. It takes three readings of the new LDC in order for it to ultimately pass and be adopted. Second …
People + Parks: Small Steps, Big Results at Kendra Page Park
by Elizabeth McGuire Rene Hernandez set out to change a park, but in the process changed a community. A year ago, Hernandez was walking his dog through Kendra Page Neighborhood Park, his southeast Austin park, and noticed an excessive amount of trash. Not just everyday wrappers and soda cans, but bags and bags of household trash dumped among the oaks, …
Colony Park District Park: A Premiere Green Space on Austin’s East Side
After decades of advocacy and a full master plan for the neighborhood, residents of Colony Park are receiving funding and project coordination from Austin Parks Foundation, the City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department and St. David’s Foundation to develop a premier park in the growing District 1 community. In 2016, the Park Master Planning process began and was implemented …
Austin City Council’s 2019-20 Budget: A Big Win for the Parks
On Tuesday, September 10, the Austin City Council formally adopted a budget for the City’s upcoming fiscal year beginning on October 1st. The budget process, which kicks off in earnest with community engagement in the spring and the release of the City Manager’s proposed budget in early August, saw significant increases for parks from beginning to end. Why is that, …
Project Playback: A Deep Dive Into Our Investment at Deep Eddy Pool
Deep Eddy Pool and the adjacent Eilers Park are unquestionably an Austinite favorite for cooling off in the summer heat. In the early 1900s, the property orginated as a swimming hole above a limestone bed in the Colorado River. George A. Rowley founded and named the property Deep Eddy Bathing Beach, and it became a hit with locals and out-of-towners …
Pomerleau Pocket Park: APF’s First-Ever Park Design Services
Earl J. Pomerleau: A Hero for Alcohol and Drug Education in Central Texas & Mexico The Pomerleau Family, including their 5 children, moved to the Northeast side of Austin in 1972. The same year, Earl J. Pomerleau was hired by the State of Texas to bring the comprehensive alcohol treatment system that he had established in Nevada. Earl is credited …
What’s Going On With Parks Funding and the City Budget?
Each August, City Hall watchers are treated to City Council returning from recess and beginning arguably their most important task. What’s that, you might be asking yourself? The answer is crafting and adopting the upcoming fiscal year’s budget. Early each August, the City Manager presents to City Council and the public their proposed budget. This stage is both the culmination …
The First Ever It’s My Pool Day Is Happening August 3rd
Yep, you read that correctly. There’s going to be an It’s My Pool Day, a day to celebrate Austin’s pools inspired by It’s My Park Day, APF’s bi-annual, city-wide day of volunteering in Austin’s parks, trails and green spaces. Austin summers are hot! Swimming is what keeps us all from losing our minds, but our pools need some love. This …
Project Playback: Renovating Barton Hills Community Park
Barton Hills Community Park opened along with the adjacent elementary school in 1964. Over the course of the next 50 years, only minor improvements were made until the Friends of Barton Hills Community Park stepped up to make a difference for their neighborhood’s park. In December of 2012, the Austin Parks and Recreation Department approved their Park Master Plan to …