Mueller Lake Park Outdoor Amphitheater
When Is a Park a Park? When Is a Park Not a Park?
RECEIVED Wed., May 11, 2005
Dear Editor,
In his letter in the Chronicle of May 6 [“Postmarks”], Jeb Boyt takes exception with identifying South Austin Park as a "neighborhood park,” but this is the official designation on the city of Austin maps and online documentation.
One issue dominates the entire debate about the future of South Austin Park. The site is an entirely inappropriate and unworkable location for the Tennis Center expansion.
The project would add two acres of additional impervious cover in the flood-prone West Bouldin Creek Watershed. A majority of the multipurpose community green space in the park and recreation center field would be lost to a single-use, gated "managed facility.” Four of the new courts would be built less than 50 feet from homes on Herndon and South Fifth. The others would be built about 100 feet from homes on the north end of the park that already suffer serious drainage and runoff problems from the tennis courts after every heavy rain.
The environmental concerns associated with the expansion, combined with increasing traffic, noise, and light pollution would result in a serious negative impact on the quality of life of hundreds of residents living on the perimeter of the park and adjacent streets. Neighborhood residents are not alone in their concerns. The Parks Board was deadlocked in their vote on the project (a 3-3 tie that was broken by the chair). All three of the board members who voted in favor of continuing the project expressed concerns about the site, including Mr. Boyt. The city of Austin Environmental Board voted unanimously, 7-0, to urge the City Council not to proceed with the current plan.
Everyone loses in the expansion plan. The tennis players would get a short-term fix for their court needs and sideline their dreams of a publicly funded regional showplace for years to come, and an increasingly densely populated neighborhood would lose a beloved inner city oasis.
In his letter in the Chronicle of May 6 [“Postmarks”], Jeb Boyt takes exception with identifying South Austin Park as a "neighborhood park,” but this is the official designation on the city of Austin maps and online documentation.
One issue dominates the entire debate about the future of South Austin Park. The site is an entirely inappropriate and unworkable location for the Tennis Center expansion.
The project would add two acres of additional impervious cover in the flood-prone West Bouldin Creek Watershed. A majority of the multipurpose community green space in the park and recreation center field would be lost to a single-use, gated "managed facility.” Four of the new courts would be built less than 50 feet from homes on Herndon and South Fifth. The others would be built about 100 feet from homes on the north end of the park that already suffer serious drainage and runoff problems from the tennis courts after every heavy rain.
The environmental concerns associated with the expansion, combined with increasing traffic, noise, and light pollution would result in a serious negative impact on the quality of life of hundreds of residents living on the perimeter of the park and adjacent streets. Neighborhood residents are not alone in their concerns. The Parks Board was deadlocked in their vote on the project (a 3-3 tie that was broken by the chair). All three of the board members who voted in favor of continuing the project expressed concerns about the site, including Mr. Boyt. The city of Austin Environmental Board voted unanimously, 7-0, to urge the City Council not to proceed with the current plan.
Everyone loses in the expansion plan. The tennis players would get a short-term fix for their court needs and sideline their dreams of a publicly funded regional showplace for years to come, and an increasingly densely populated neighborhood would lose a beloved inner city oasis.
Sev Coursen
