You might have heard by now that efforts by the City of Austin’s Parks and Recreation Department to secure a permit allowing the new operators of the recently-renovated Zilker Cafe concessions stand to sell beer and wine in the area of Barton Springs Pool aren’t going so well. As advocates for fully enjoying the public realm, this comes…
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Zilker Park’s Renovated Cafe Seeks Beer and Wine Sales at Barton Springs
The historic Zilker Cafe concessions stand, a mainstay of Austin’s beloved Barton Springs Pool since the 1960s, completed a long-awaited renovation project this year after closing “in shambles” back in 2016. With this enhanced snack hub expected to reopen soon, the City of Austin hopes to bring the park something new: legal booze. Austin’s Parks and Recreation Department is now seeking…
Shaping the Future of Austin’s Greatest Park With the Zilker Vision Plan
More than a century after Andrew Jackson Zilker donated approximately 350 acres of land to the City of Austin to create what would eventually become the city’s favorite metropolitan park, we find ourselves in an embarrassing predicament — Zilker Park has never had a master plan! Well, there have of course been plans over the years, but not…
After a Century of Snacking, Barton Springs’ Zilker Cafe Looks Forward
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…
Austin Parks Department Plans Makeover for Zilker Botanical Garden
Citing a need for better use of space and traffic improvements, the City of Austin recently began a search for a consultant to help produce a master plan for the Zilker Botanical Garden . Remarkably, the request for proposals filed by the city noted that there has never been an approved master plan for the park. In 1962,…