We’re huge fans of the plan by the City of Austin’s Parks and Recreation Department to rehab the historic 1950s Art Deco-style facility on Lady Bird Lake formerly used as the pump house of the adjacent Seaholm Power Plant into a new downtown public space — and unlike the fate of many plans we like, after waiting more than 10 years we’re happy to report…
historic preservation
In Praise of Austin’s TRS Headquarters, a Doomed ’70s Concrete Wonderland
After being solidly shamed out of a big-spending plan to relocate its Austin offices to the recently-completed (and architecturally quite brilliant) Indeed Tower, the state pension managers at the Teacher Retirement System of Texas are now humbly weighing the possibilities of departing downtown for Mueller’s emerging Aldrich Street business district and selling its current headquarters at 1000 Red River Street. Even though the current…
Is There Really a Case for Reopening Sixth Street’s Weekends to Cars?
Members of Austin City Council voted unanimously last night to pass a resolution “relating to comprehensive strategies and immediate and longer-term actions to create a safer Sixth Street environment for all,” which directs city staff to study potential design interventions and other changes that could improve public safety in the East Sixth Street bar district that’s seen a…
Corner-Clearing Demolition Approved for 14th and Lavaca Tower Plan
Austin’s Historic Landmark Commission approved the demolition of five adjacent buildings in downtown northwest of the Capitol at its meeting earlier this week, representing another step forward for a reported hotel tower project at the site from a partnership between local firms Sabot Development and Twin Crest Capital. The site is an approximately 0.42-acre assembly of four neighboring properties including…
East Austin’s Huston-Tillotson University Seeks National Historic Designation
With its local history dating back to 1875, you might be surprised to discover that Huston-Tillotson University predates the University of Texas as Austin’s first institution of higher learning — and this East Side cultural landmark, originally founded as the segregated city’s only college for African Americans, should soon receive its due recognition with admission to the…
The Long Road to a Residential Tower at Downtown’s Former Carmelo’s Site
Three long years ago, Houston-based developer Allen Harrison Company showed off a few renderings of a residential tower designed by local architects and tallness enthusiasts Rhode Partners for the shuttered site of longtime downtown Italian restaurant Carmelo’s at 504 East Fifth Street, a plan that attractively balanced new development with both the preservation needs of the historic building on the property and the…