ALSO| Austin ISD to detail new bus hub routes ahead of first day of school<\/a><\/p>\nWalnut Creek Municipal Pool is among the pools that would see improvements under the package. Austin native Danielle Rue said, \u201cI think it’s so important to have community spaces that are up to date that are, you know, parks are free. It’s a free space for people together and for that to be updated and safe to use.\u201d<\/p>\n
Days earlier, Austin Mayor Kirk Watson, along with council members Jose Velasquez and Marc Duchen, voted against advancing the bond package. Watson said Wednesday, \u201cI have from the very beginning indicated that I did not think this year was the year we ought to have a bond election.\u201d Watson believes waiting and proposing a bond in 2028 is the best way to keep public trust.<\/p>\n
But Vargas says the time to act is now. \u201cThis bond is fiscally responsible because it maintains what we have versus shutting them down,” she said.<\/p>\n
Here is a full breakdown of the parks’ finances under the bond package:<\/p>\n
$65.5 million for buildings and facilities (Gus Garcia Rec Center Senior Wing addition, Dois Miller Auditorium renovation, Mayfield Park Facility rehabilitation and security enhancements)$65 million for parkland improvements (Jamestown Neighborhood Park, Bolm District Park, Walter E Long Metro Park, Lantana Neighborhood Park, Community Gardens, Old Lampasas Pocket Park, Cooper Neighborhood Park, Woolridge Square, Onion Creek Metro Park Soccer Fields, Guitar Land, Grand Meadow Phase III, Commons Ford Park Improvements and Security enhancements)$29.5 million for park infrastructure (Williamson Creek Trail, Evergreen Cemetery, Onion Creek all abilities playground, Brentwood neighborhood Park restroom and playscape replacement, Riata Neighborhood Park playscape replacement, Springwoods Park Improvements, St. Edwards Greenbelt Trail & Park Improvements, Zilker Metro Park Improvements, Commons Ford shoreline improvements, Circle C Metro DOLA, Mt. Bonneil Improvements and Security Enhancements, Electrification Infrastructure)$65 million for four Austin pools (Garrison Municipal Pool, Big Stacy Neighborhood Pool, Walnut Creek Municipal Pool, Civitan Neighborhood Pool)$35 million for new parks and trails (Infill parks in deficient areas, greenbelts and greenways for increased trail connectivity, and destination and land for new recreation center in)<\/p>\n
As Vargas adds, there are projects throughout all ten council districts that would be impacted. “And they were trying as best as they can to make an equitable package for each district. But we know that the needs of each district is different. And different parts of Austin need more than other parts,” said Vargas.<\/p>\n
For libraries, the proposal includes $20 million for renovation and expansion of the Hampton Branch at Oak Hill and $15 million for a new library and public health center at Colony Park.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Austin voters will head to the polls on Nov. 3 and decide whether to approve a $295 million…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":399928,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":["post-399927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399927","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=399927"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399927\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/399928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=399927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=399927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=399927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}