Naked City

The November 1998 bond election brought us the Palmer Events Center and its accompanying parking garage, but the other piece of the voter-approved package -- a 54-acre Town Lake Park in East Austin -- has barely made it out of the starting gate. Now, Friends of the Park stakeholders are questioning the city's decision, borne out of its budget shortfall, to delay Phase Two of the project for at least two years (Phase One covered landscaping around the new Palmer). At the same time, they ask why more than $5 million currently available for the project is now being diverted to help the Austin Convention Center Dept. underwrite Palmer's operations in FY 2004. "There is money in the bank to build the park now," says Friends stakeholder Larry Akers. "So we're trying to convince council that putting this on hold for two years is a mistake. If we wait two years, the construction cost is going to be higher."

Akers, a veteran parks advocate and observer of city projects placed on interminable hold, fears that "two years" could easily turn into 10 or 20. In a joint letter to Mayor Will Wynn and the City Council, Akers and Friends of the Park President Karen Cannatti asked why parks, libraries, and social services have to take massive financial hits while the Convention Center and Palmer will lose "only 1.7%" of its staff. "How can they manage that?" Akers and Cannatti asked and immediately answered: "By latching on to the funding dedicated to constructing Town Lake Park." Or, as Akers told the Chronicle, "Why should they economize if they've got a sugar daddy?"

At press time, Akers and other Friends members were meeting with City Manager Toby Futrell to try and dissuade her from postponing the Town Lake project. But the budget-approval clock is ticking -- the council will seal the new budget at special meetings next week (Sept. 8-10). For now, it's hard to tell when Phase Two in all of its glory -- an interactive fountain, a children's garden, an idyllic meadow -- will finally materialize. For now, Akers is willing to hold his breath in anticipation. "It'll be really, really beautiful, if it's ever built," he said.