Picnic facilities at Govalle Neighborhood Park. Image: Austin Parks Foundation
Though its facilities remain closed to the public in the hottest months of summer thanks to the ongoing pandemic, East Austin’s renovated Govalle Pool is ready to roll whenever we are — and with these much-needed and long-awaited upgrades completed earlier this year after breaking ground back in 2018, it’s time to extend the same courtesy to the surrounding facilities at Govalle Neighborhood Park.
A view of the Govalle Park facilities from Bolm Road, with Boggy Creek visible on the right.
Next month, the Austin Parks Foundation, working with the City of Austin’s Parks and Recreation Department, will kick off the first stage of community engagement to gather information and guide plans for further improvements at the park with a focus on upgrading its playground equipment — which the city has recently identified as a major priority for replacement, citing safety and ADA-related access concerns.
Current playground facilities at Govalle Park. Image: Austin Parks Foundation
Due to the current pandemic situation, the first engagement meeting presenting more info about the project’s goals will be held online on September 16. There’s reportedly a strong desire in the community for improved play facilities and other recreational amenities here, since the park is a popular destination for families and other residents of the surrounding Govalle and Johnston Terrace neighborhoods. The current version of the plan also includes a new multipurpose field area north of Govalle Pool:
Image: Austin Parks Foundation / City of Austin
APF will work with the community to identify other amenities or improvements in the park to help prioritize the community’s goals and seize on the existing project outreach and engagement to gather their feedback more broadly.
— Austin Parks Foundation, Govalle Park Project Information
Govalle Park’s pedestrian bridge over Boggy Creek. Image: Austin Parks Foundation
Located at 5200 Bolm Road, Govalle Park comprises 26 acres of green space along the East Boggy Creek Greenbelt and includes access to the Southern Walnut Creek Trail, athletic fields, the ready-to-fix-up playground, and its newly fixed-up pool. The site was purchased by the city in 1946, but first mentioned in the Austin American-Statesman as a location for Juneteenth celebrations among the city’s black community in 1898 — though it’s not entirely clear if the locations are the same.
Separate clippings from the Austin American-Statesman in 1992 discussing conditions at Govalle Neighborhood Park. Image: Austin History Center
The park, like most of East Austin’s civic infrastructure, suffered municipal neglect for most of its life, with conditions so poor the facility was described as essentially abandoned in 1992. Additional community frustration mounted in the 1990s over nearby industrial sites including a fuel storage tank farm implicated in groundwater contamination beneath the parkland, with remediation still ongoing into the 2000s.
A July 1997 clipping from the Austin American-Statesman discussing the legacy of the 52-acre East Austin tank farm implicated in the pollution of Govalle Neighborhood Park and its surrounding area. Image: Austin History Center
Considering this historical context, the needs of residents in the neighborhoods immediately surrounding the park are obviously the first priority in the Parks Foundation’s engagement process — but if you’re an East Austin resident or even just a user of Govalle Park, your perspective would be appreciated as the city prepares to give this East Austin amenity the attention it deserves at long last.
An aerial view of Govalle Park and its surroundings. Image: Bing Maps
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