The sign at the Alliance Children’s Garden’s main entrance. We’re peeking through the fence here. Photo by James Rambin
Here’s a sad little song for you — the Alliance Children’s Garden, a high-concept playground project on more than two acres at Butler Metro Park that broke ground early last year, is finished. It’s actually been done for six months, but if you’ve got a pulse you know how we’ve spent those last six months and more — so, in keeping with the city’s pandemic-related social distancing guidelines, the shiny new playground’s construction fences remain standing to deflect any curious kids, depressing as that is.
But after all these months, don’t you want to see what’s inside? It’s not like you can’t go down there and look through the fence, but it’s not quite the same — and though we’re personally huge fans of trespassing, in the spirit of the collective effort to eradicate the coronavirus plus the whole legality issue we think it’s best to stay outside the fence. Still, it’s fine to stick a camera through the fence, so we did:
Giant ants! I guess you can ride them. Photo by James Rambin
Built-in ping pong tables keep the adults busy while the kids are skinning their knees and whatnot. Photo by James Rambin
An extremely large climbing structure inside the garden, which leads me to ask why playgrounds weren’t this good when I was six or seven years old and could walk off really serious falls. Photo by James Rambin
It’s a start, but these three photos don’t give us a very good impression of the space. The project’s landscape architects at local firm TBG Partners conducted a virtual tour of the space late last month, but that doesn’t do us any good now — except it turns out a few other people have posted sneak peeks from inside the park over the summer. We’ve scoured social media for as many photos and videos as we can find from inside the playground — consider this your virtual tour of the Alliance Children’s Garden, a long-awaited space keeping us waiting just a little longer. First, here’s a video from an enterprising fella who flew his drone over the fence to give us a look:
Next up is a slideshow of images from inside the park by construction firm SpawGlass, which worked on the project — this one gives us a closer look at some of the park’s finer details, including those giant ants we saw earlier:
Our last video arrives from local concrete firm Sundek and its sales manager Scott Hubbard, providing a more technical look at the project’s decorative concrete elements including a climbing wall and “cheese wall” full of kid-sized holes:
Once you’ve caught up on these videos, compare what you’ve seen to the drawings of the proposed playground we saw back in 2018 — it appears the finished product actually does these concept renderings justice, with elements like the cheese wall, giant ants, and climbing structure losing surprisingly little in translation:
Images: TBG Partners
We’re fans of any downtown-adjacent project acknowledging the urban lives of kids in its design — we just hope the playground opens soon enough that the young people currently enduring this pandemic’s uniquely damaging social effects can enjoy it. No matter how long it takes, the Parks and Recreation Department explains the park is designed for “multigenerational play” providing recreation for all ages — all the more reason to get through this virus and bring those fences down for good.
Homes for sale in 78704
-
$859,900
MLS # 5725120
Austin, TX -
$1,550,000
903 Garden Villa Court
Austin, TX -
$375,900
3734 Valley View Road #B
Austin, TX -
$4,150,000
2104 Ann Arbor Avenue
Austin, TX -
$475,000
1133 Hollow Creek Drive #102
Austin, TX -
$1,300,000
508 Lockhart Drive
Austin, TX -
$2,150,000
2406 ROCK TERRACE Circle
Austin, TX -
$635,000
1120 Gillespie Place #2
Austin, TX -
$425,000
830 Banister Lane
Austin, TX -
$2,850,000
121 El Paso Street
Austin, TX -
$565,000
1600 Barton Springs Road #6208
Austin, TX -
$475,000
3604 Clawson Road #201
Austin, TX -
$475,000
4004 Banister Lane #312
Austin, TX -
$339,000
2215 Post Road #2059
Austin, TX -
$350,000
3018 S 1st Street #212
Austin, TX -
$1,250,000
MLS # 2980166
Austin, TX -
$925,000
2306 La Casa Drive #B
Austin, TX -
$1,225,000
500 E Live Oak Street
Austin, TX -
$1,100,000
1100 Fieldcrest Drive
Austin, TX -
$850,000
4007 Clawson Road #2
Austin, TX -
$549,900
1600 Barton Springs Road #1108
Austin, TX -
$515,000
3600 S Lamar Boulevard #312
Austin, TX -
$1,275,000
803 N Terrell Hill Drive
Austin, TX -
$965,000
2615 Carnarvon Lane
Austin, TX -
$665,000
210 Lee Barton Drive #314
Austin, TX
-
$859,900Lot SizeN/A
Home Size1,523 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths3 Baths
-
$1,550,000Lot Size7,515 sqft
Home Size2,414 sqft
Beds4 Beds
Baths3 Baths
-
$375,900Lot Size2,004 sqft
Home Size589 sqft
Beds1 Bed
Baths1 Bath
-
$4,150,000Lot Size9,497 sqft
Home Size3,683 sqft
Beds5 Beds
Baths5 Baths
-
$475,000Lot Size10,041 sqft
Home Size664 sqft
Beds1 Bed
Baths1 Bath
-
$1,300,000Lot Size5,881 sqft
Home Size1,184 sqft
Beds3 Beds
Baths3 Baths
-
$2,150,000Lot Size13,068 sqft
Home Size2,519 sqft
Beds4 Beds
Baths3 Baths
-
$635,000Lot Size4,095 sqft
Home Size925 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths1 Bath
-
$425,000Lot Size2,004 sqft
Home Size968 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths2 Baths
-
$2,850,000Lot Size6,805 sqft
Home Size3,116 sqft
Beds4 Beds
Baths5 Baths
-
$565,000Lot Size480 sqft
Home Size743 sqft
Beds1 Bed
Baths1 Bath
-
$475,000Lot Size2,327 sqft
Home Size996 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths2 Baths
-
$475,000Lot Size41,862 sqft
Home Size989 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths2 Baths
-
$339,000Lot Size1,525 sqft
Home Size610 sqft
Beds1 Bed
Baths2 Baths
-
$350,000Lot Size2,043 sqft
Home Size761 sqft
Beds2 Beds
Baths1 Bath
-
$1,250,000Lot Size4,857 sqft
Home Size2,116 sqft
Beds3 Beds
Baths4 Baths
-
$925,000Lot Size4,343 sqft
Home Size1,719 sqft
Beds3 Beds
Baths3 Baths
-
$1,225,000Lot Size7,009 sqft
Home Size1,300 sqft
Beds3 Beds
Baths2 Baths
-
$1,100,000Lot Size7,349 sqft
Home Size1,290 sqft
Beds3 Beds
Baths2 Baths
-
$850,000Lot Size4,509 sqft
Home Size1,300 sqft
Beds3 Beds
Baths4 Baths
-
$549,900Lot Size480 sqft
Home Size743 sqft
Beds1 Bed
Baths1 Bath
-
$515,000Lot Size933 sqft
Home Size919 sqft
Beds1 Bed
Baths1 Bath
-
$1,275,000Lot Size10,163 sqft
Home Size1,620 sqft
Beds3 Beds
Baths2 Baths
-
$965,000Lot Size7,401 sqft
Home Size1,379 sqft
Beds3 Beds
Baths2 Baths
-
$665,000Lot Size393 sqft
Home Size1,016 sqft
Beds1 Bed
Baths1 Bath
Leave a Reply