Like a number of other large chunks of city park property still waiting for their time in the spotlight, at the moment Bolm District Park is practically a blank canvas. Located directly south of U.S. 183 on the banks of the Colorado River as it meanders into a region known for somewhat resembling the head of a dog, the…
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Digging Into East Austin’s John Treviño Jr. Metro Park Master Plan
After about a year of development, the City of Austin’s Parks and Recreation Department and Seattle landscape architecture firm GGN finally have a master plan for the improvement of the unused 330-acre East Austin parkland named for the city’s first elected Mexican-American City Council member John Treviño Jr. — and this is great news, because the…
Govalle’s Art Deco Wastewater Plant is an East Side Architectural Gem
The federal agencies of the New Deal brought some classic examples of Depression-era public works architecture to Austin in the 1930s, much of which embodies the forever-popular Art Deco styles known as Streamline Moderne and PWA Moderne. Though most of these buildings still stand in the city today, one shining local example remains decidedly under the radar, likely due…
Austin’s Finally Fixing Up John Treviño Metro Park — But Not Too Much
Only twenty scant acres smaller than Zilker Park, the 330-acre tract of former ranchland at the edge of District 1 now known as John Treviño Jr. Metro Park is perhaps the second most underutilized park space in far East Austin. The first, of course, is Walter E. Long Metro Park, but the almost bizarrely ambitious $800 million master plan for that enormous potential…
Austin’s Festivals Need More Space, District 1 May Save Them
According to the recommendations of the Austin City Council’s Parkland Events Task Force, the city should seek to reduce the number of events hosted at its three major downtown parks — Zilker, Auditorium Shores, and Festival Beach — in order to reduce wear and tear on the facilities, as well as ease noise and traffic in…