{"id":230615,"date":"2026-04-01T19:25:25","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T19:25:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/230615\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T19:25:25","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T19:25:25","slug":"walter-e-long-metropolitan-park-improvements-austin-parks-and-recreation-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/230615\/","title":{"rendered":"Walter E. Long Metropolitan Park Improvements | Austin Parks and Recreation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>    Background<\/p>\n<p>The expansion of the City of Austin\u2019s steam turbine plant along Decker Road in the mid-1960s required a constant source of water for cooling and resulted in the need and development of a new lake in the area. Construction of the dam started in May 1966 and the introduction of water began in early 1967.<\/p>\n<p>Since 1968, the following Land Use Plan items have been implemented and constructed:<\/p>\n<p>Two Nature Preserves: Louis Rene Barrera Indiangrass Wildlife Sanctuary and the Decker Tallgrass Prairie Preserve;two boat docks;restrooms (no longer in operation);a portion of a hike and bike trail; andenhanced native grassland areas, main park road, picnic areas, and a swimming area.<\/p>\n<p>In January 2018, Austin Parks and Recreation began a new vision planning process (formerly called master planning). Austin City Council adopted the <a href=\"https:\/\/austin.widen.net\/view\/pdf\/kxzcwuopuk\/WEL-Vision-Plan-Digital-Final-Draft-2020-08-11.pdf?t.download=true\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Walter E. Long Vision Plan<\/a> on October 15, 2020. The Vision Plan recommends long-term improvements to the metropolitan park, and a suggested framework for Phase 1 implementation.<\/p>\n<p>Project Description<\/p>\n<p>The proposed park improvements for Phase 1a will upgrade the park with roadway and parking improvements, full restroom renovation, a new playground, ADA-accessible picnic areas, nature trails, and significant utility and stormwater improvements. Adjustments to road layouts and other amenities will be made based on their alignment with the vision plan.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>            <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/WEL_BirdsEyeSketch_highres_2023.png\" width=\"1024\" height=\"514\" alt=\"WEL_BirdsEyeSketch_highres_2023.png\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Rendering by Rialto Studio<\/p>\n<p>Anticipated Schedule &#8211; Phase 1aFall 2022: Scope Development (Complete)Winter 2022: Approved Consultant Project Scope (Complete)Spring 2023: Project Kick-Off (Complete)Fall 2023: Community Meeting and Schematic Design (Complete)Fall 2024: Community Engagement Round 1 (Complete)Winter 2024: Community Engagement Round 2 and Design Development (Complete)Summer 2025: Construction Documents, Permitting and Bidding (In Progress)Summer 2026: Construction Begins<\/p>\n<p>Please note that as in any construction project, schedules are projected as accurately as possible. All dates are subject to change due to the nature of construction and the weather.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Community Engagement<\/p>\n<p>Community Engagement for Phase 1a took place between 2023 and 2025, and is documented below.<\/p>\n<p>Previous EngagementCommunity Meeting (2023)<\/p>\n<p>2023 Virtual Community Meeting to Discuss\u00a0Phase 1 Park Improvements, November 15, 2023<\/p>\n<p>Community Engagement Round 1 (2024)<\/p>\n<p>Community Survey 1<\/p>\n<p>Walter E. Long Metropolitan Park Phase 1 Play Survey 1 (Open October 25, 2024 through November 17, 2024)<\/p>\n<p>Community Pop Ups<\/p>\n<p>November 15, 2024<br \/>Perez Elementary Fall Festival, 7500 S Pleasant Valley Rd, Austin, TX 78744November 9, 2024<br \/>Violet Crown Trail Ribbon Cutting Ceremony, Veloway Park, 4900 La Crosse Ave, Austin, TX 78739November 7, 2024<br \/>University Hills Branch Library, 4721 Loyola Ln, Austin, Texas 78723October 30, 2024<br \/>Turner Roberts Recreation Center, 7201 Colony Park Loop Drive, Austin, Texas 78724October 25, 2024<br \/>Overton Elementary&#8217;s Roots and Wings Festival, Turner Roberts Recreation Center, 7201 Colony Park Loop Drive, Austin, Texas 78724Community Engagement Round 2 (2025)<\/p>\n<p>Community Survey 2<\/p>\n<p>Walter E. Long Metropolitan Park Phase 1 Improvements Play Survey 2 (Closed March 30, 2025)<\/p>\n<p>Community Pop Ups<\/p>\n<p>March 20, 2025<br \/>Austin Parks Foundation Presents Movies in the Park, Gus Garcia District Park, 1201 E Rundberg Lane, Austin, TX 78753March 15, 2025<br \/>Community Engagement Picnic in the Park, Dittmar Recreation Center, 1009 W. Dittmar Road, Austin, Texas 78745March 12, 2025<br \/>Turner Roberts Recreation Center, 7201 Colony Park Loop Drive, Austin, Texas 78724February 20, 2025<br \/>Capital Delivery Services Building Austin Informational Session, Turner Roberts Recreation Center, 7201 Colony Park Loop Drive, Austin, Texas 78724<\/p>\n<p>Community Meeting<\/p>\n<p>Walter E. Long Phase 1 Play Feature Community Meeting (Virtual), February 18, 2025Funding and Resources<\/p>\n<p>Funding for Phase 1a was provided by the 2018 GO Bond, Parkland Dedication, mitigation fees, park entry fees, and a grant from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Contact Information<\/p>\n<p>For more information, please contact\u00a0Reynaldo Hernandez by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.austintexas.gov\/zh-tw\/parks\/projects\/mailto:reynaldo.hernandez@austintexas.gov\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">email<\/a>\u00a0or by phone at\u00a0512-974-9464.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"coh-style-primary-cta-dark-large\" href=\"https:\/\/austin.widen.net\/view\/pdf\/kxzcwuopuk\/WEL-Vision-Plan-Digital-Final-Draft-2020-08-11.pdf?t.download=true\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">View the Vision Plan!<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Background The expansion of the City of Austin\u2019s steam turbine plant along Decker Road in the mid-1960s required&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":226497,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":{"0":"post-230615","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-austin","8":"tag-austin","9":"tag-austin-headlines","10":"tag-austin-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=230615"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230615\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/226497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=230615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=230615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=230615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}