• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

TOWERS

Austin city life since 2007.

  • News
    • Condo Projects
    • Neighborhoods
  • Listings
    • Austin Condo Guide
  • Newsletter
Search
You are here: Home / News / A Bridge to the Future of Hyde Park’s Historic Elisabet Ney Museum
Search suggestions: condos for sale • rainey street

A Bridge to the Future of Hyde Park’s Historic Elisabet Ney Museum

James Rambin August 27, 2021 Comment

A view of the Elisabet Ney Museum in Hyde Park. Image: Austin Parks and Recreation Department

The studio and residence of groundbreaking sculptor Elisabet Ney is 129 years old. That’s only four years younger than the Capitol, a building that’s received more than its fair share of attention over the past century and change — needless to say, not every building this old looks so good, and Ney’s castle-like limestone haunt has shown its age since before some local buildings we consider old now were even built.

Dubbed Formosa by Ney at the time of its construction in 1892, the studio and its picturesque surroundings located at 304 East 44th Street in the northeast corner of the Hyde Park neighborhood still serves as a living monument to the artist in the form of the city-owned Elisabet Ney Museum, perhaps not one of the city’s most prominent tourist attractions but certainly considered a local treasure — Ney’s career sculpting portraits of kings and Texan legends like Sam Houston reaches iconic status thanks to her unshakably modern persona, progressive in opposition to the norms of her era and a source of pride for locals as a reflection of our city’s own offbeat sensibilities.

Ney’s studio and residence photographed prior to the addition of its distinctive tower in 1902. Image: Austin History Center

Efforts to fix her place up here and there date back to at least the 1970s, if you can believe it — restoration work completed in the 1980s and small follow-up improvements since then have brought us the museum we know today, but since the formulation of a more comprehensive master plan for the site in 2007, we’ve seen little progress on some of these larger goals. That could finally change for the better in the next year or two, with the first phase of upgrades via the city’s Parks and Recreation Department now funded and scheduled for completion by 2023.

Considering the age and historic nature of the building, these improvements take an extremely light touch, since as a state landmark any modifications to the site require approval from the Texas Historical Commission rather than just the city’s own commissions, which as you might imagine requires paddling upstream through more layers of bureaucracy than usual. This first phase of the building’s restoration includes some back-of-house upgrades including a new archival-quality HVAC system to keep the museum’s art pieces safe from temperature-related damage, along with various masonry repairs and other exterior work to hopefully put an end to longstanding water penetration issues — a problem you might expect from a building that resembles a castle, rough-hewn stones and all. (The tower part of the building, easily its most iconic feature, was added in 1902. That’s long enough ago to be historic too!)

Image: The Lawrence Group

But the most visible update to the site will be a bridge on the north side of the building, crossing over the stretch of Waller Creek that bisects the Ney tract, designed to improve the museum’s accessibility. The current pedestrian bridge in this area is in poor condition and uses stairs in its design, which isn’t particularly friendly to wheelchair users, other mobility impairments, or even bikes. The new bridge, designed as part of the site’s larger restoration plan first drafted in 2018 by architecture firm the Lawrence Group, is designed for all abilities and features a low cosmetic profile to comply with the various historic considerations of the museum — the idea, per preservation guidelines, is to give these sorts of additions a look that absolutely no one would mistake for an original part of the historic site. 

Image: The Lawrence Group

It’s hardly the sexiest upgrade we’ve ever seen, but that’s actually the whole point — the history of this site and the singular personality of its namesake both speak for themselves, and the purpose of the bridge as pointed out by its architects is simply to make the museum more accessible for people of all abilities to enjoy, which opens the site for additional events and other programming opportunities in the future. With recommendations secured from the city’s Design and Historic Landmark Commissions so far, work on these improvements could start by next summer.

Image: The Lawrence Group

Related

Filed Under: News

About James Rambin

James is an Austin native and fifth-generation Texan, but tries not to brag about it. Email him anything at james@towers.net.

300 Bowie Street #703
Austin, TX
Photo of 300  Bowie Street #703, Austin, TX 78703 (MLS # 1326444)
$699,980
31
  • Lot Size
    101 sqft

  • Home Size
    983 sqft

  • Beds
    2 Beds

  • Baths
    2 Baths

View Virtual Tour
Previous Post: « It’s Cranes Up for the Waller at Symphony Square in Downtown Austin
Next Post: Take a Virtual Construction Tour of the Massive Texas Capitol Complex Project »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

  •  Schedule a showing

FEATURED Listings

555 E 5th Street #725
Austin, TX
Photo of 555 E 5th Street #725, Austin, TX 78701 (MLS # 9482800)
$545,000
20
  • Lot Size
    88 sqft

  • Home Size
    817 sqft

  • Beds
    1 Bed

  • Baths
    1 Bath

View Virtual Tour
555 E 5th Street #3022
Austin, TX
Photo of 555 E 5th Street #3022, Austin, TX 78701 (MLS # 2618905)
$3,499,000
24
  • Lot Size
    393 sqft

  • Home Size
    3,638 sqft

  • Beds
    3 Beds

  • Baths
    3 Baths

300 Bowie Street #703
Austin, TX
Photo of 300  Bowie Street #703, Austin, TX 78703 (MLS # 1326444)
$699,980
31
  • Lot Size
    101 sqft

  • Home Size
    983 sqft

  • Beds
    2 Beds

  • Baths
    2 Baths

View Virtual Tour
619 Tillery Street #B
Austin, TX
Photo of 619  Tillery Street #B, Austin, TX 78702 (MLS # 4009706)
$839,619
30
  • Lot Size
    3,050 sqft

  • Home Size
    1,796 sqft

  • Beds
    3 Beds

  • Baths
    3 Baths

44 East Avenue #3103
Austin, TX
Photo of 44  East Avenue #3103, Austin, TX 78701 (MLS # 2986314)
$695,000
40
  • Lot Size
    436 sqft

  • Home Size
    618 sqft

  • Beds
    1 Bed

  • Baths
    1 Bath

austin condo report

Featured Buildings

  • 360 Condos
  • Austin City Lofts
  • The Independent
  • The Shore Condos
  • 70 Rainey

Footer

LEGAL NOTICE

TREC Information About Brokerage Services (pdf)

Texas Real Estate Commission Consumer Protection Notice


TOWERS realty

Austin Condos For Sale

Agents

Downtown Buildings

Luxury Towers

  • Four Seasons Residences
  • W Hotel & Residences
  • The Austonian
  • 5 Fifty Five at Hilton

Most Popular

  • The Shore
  • 360 Condos
  • Seaholm Condos
  • Spring Condos
  • Milago Condos

New Construction

  • The Independent
  • 70 Rainey
  • Austin Proper
  • Fifth & West

Loft Style

  • Austin City Lofts
  • Brazos Place
  • The Sabine
  • Plaza Lofts
  • Avenue Lofts
  • Brazos Lofts
  • Brown Building

Resources

  • Austin Condo Guide
  • Condos For Sale
  • Condo Buyer FAQ
  • Property Search

Featured

Archives

Newsletter · About · Contact Us · DMCA · Privacy Policy · SLAPP · Copyright © 2007-2022 TOWERS.net · All Rights Reserved
 

Loading Comments...