Looking at the improved Duncan Park from its entrance on West 10th Street. Photo by James Rambin
Duncan Neighborhood Park is rounding the corner on its first phase of upgrades by the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, the most significant improvements planned in decades for this wildly underrated piece of downtown parkland just east of Shoal Creek between West Ninth and 10th Streets. It’s not just the park’s excellent skyline views we’re after — we are very bullish on the potential of Duncan Park as a recreational space and site for event programming as the corner of downtown we’ve nicknamed the “Lawyer District” sees further development. With that in mind, we’ve been following the roughly yearlong construction cycle over here with great interest, and since the project is expected to see completion sometime this spring, it’s time to stick a camera over the fence and see how things are shaping up.
A view of Duncan Park near its entrance on West Ninth Street. Photo by James Rambin
The Implementation Phase proposes a green retreat in the city by preserving the multi-use lawn as the highlight of the park. The grading and soil will be adjusted to improve turf growth and drainage and the sidewalk will loop around it, connecting the new park entry plazas at 9th and 10th Streets with the Shoal Creek Hike and Bike Trail. An alternate entrance on 9th street utilizes the proposed boardwalk that will extend over the wetland. The current wetland collects water from two ephemeral seeps as well as stormwater from the park and adjacent office buildings offsite. The wetland naturally holds and filters the water of pollutants before it travels through the soil to the creek. The wetland will be regraded and planted to improve ecological function and wildlife habitat. A bat house will be installed in the wetland to contribute to wildlife habitat, keep local insect populations in check, and provide educational experiences to park visitors.
— Duncan Park Improvements, City of Austin
A look at the original phase 1 plan for improvements at Duncan Park — we believe some of these have been scaled back, but the big stuff’s still there. Image: City of Austin
Remember, this first phase of upgrades is mostly just about getting more people to use the space and enjoy its large scenic lawn rather than adding anything too flashy — the name of the game here is improved trail connectivity, new entrances on West Ninth and 10th Streets, more seating, native plantings, and better stewardship of the wetland on the east edge of the parkland. (The upgrades very pointedly don’t mess with the 9th Street BMX Park, which adheres to a strict DIY ethos, bless them.)
The improved West Ninth Street entrance and trails at Duncan Park. That’s the wetland area on the right. Photo by James Rambin
Looking at the current state of the park as it nears the end of construction, it appears the boardwalk proposed in the wetland area didn’t make it to the finish line, unless they’re planning on dropping it in from space before the fences come down. Rising construction costs are almost certainly the culprit here, but we hope to see this feature added in a future phase — along with the possibility of a public restroom:
A restroom is not proposed at this time, however, space for it to be built in the future is set aside on land that is out of the floodplain and out of the critical root zones of the heritage trees. The heritage trees on-site, including ancient live oaks, will be preserved and highlighted with the design. Invasive plants will be removed and replaced with plants that would historically have been part of the Blackland Prairie, particularly a riparian edge or ephemeral wetland. The sidewalks leading up to the entrance will be widened and planted with street trees to provide shade to pedestrians. Other shade and ornamental trees will be planted throughout the site to provide views, visual interest, and wildlife habitat, and contribute to the overall landscape of the park.
— Duncan Park Improvements, City of Austin
A closer look at the park’s stunning wetland habitat after some recent rain. Photo by James Rambin
Although these additions are admirably restrained, we didn’t expect the site’s wetland area to be such an appealing selling point. It’s probably a lot fuller than usual in the photo above thanks to recent rain, but it’s still a compelling natural feature to highlight in a park that is, believe it or not, part of downtown Austin. Considering our endless flogging of Duncan Park’s potential as one of downtown’s best natural spaces, I’m excited to mention that since publishing our last dispatch on Duncan’s history, I’ve heard from two members of the Duncan family, descendants of the park’s namesake Addison Baker Duncan, who say they would like to take a more active role in the park’s future stewardship. Who says a little ol’ blog can’t accomplish anything?
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