Swimming leads to snacking. That’s been a fact of life at Austin’s Barton Springs Pool for at least a century, with the first mention of concessions served to bathers at the spring-fed swimming pool — “hamburger and the like” — appearing in the Austin Statesman in 1918. But in 2016, the Zilker Cafe at Barton…
What’s on Our Watchlist This Week?
We often come across some fairly interesting business updates in the universe of downtown Austin and beyond — openings, closings, remodels, upcoming events, the installation of new vent hoods, and so forth — that are not quite robust enough to justify a full feature. Since we’re trying to keep everyone on the pulse of the…
A Field Guide to Austin’s Art Deco and Moderne Architecture
As part of our ongoing love affair with Virginia McAlester’s 1984 book, “A Field Guide to American Houses: The Definitive Guide to Identifying and Understanding America’s Domestic Architecture,” we’re occasionally taking a look at different architectural styles described in the book and hunting down good examples of them around Austin. Last time, we checked out Tudor architecture, which worked out great,…
Demolition Starts at 91 Red River This Month, Clearing Site for 30-Story Tower
The folks at Endeavor Real Estate Group aren’t wasting any time on the 30-story mixed-use tower planned at 91 Red River Street. The building, called Red River Tower in some documents, will bring 328 apartments, three floors of office space, and ground-level retail to the growing Rainey Street District — and demolition clearing the .74-acre site for the tower’s construction begins…
In Loving Memory: Downtown Austin’s ‘Rather Tawdry’ Alamo Hotel
Earlier this week, a demolition permit was issued by the city for the Extended Stay America building at 600 Guadalupe Street in downtown Austin. Despite its central location, this fenced-off, unremarkable low-rise structure was nearly identical to what you might find on the side of a highway anywhere else in America, and unless you were…
Lighting Up the History of Austin’s Last Original Arby’s Sign
As a bright-eyed new resident of South Austin, my search for all things local nostalgia is ongoing. My latest obsession? Imagine cruising through 1970s Austin in your Oldsmobile station wagon, windows down, hot roast beef sandwich in hand. At 4411 South Lamar Boulevard, in the southeastern corner of the snarl where Highway 290 meets Highway…