AUSTIN — An exciting new announcement has been made to a park in Austin.
Pease Park Conservancy released design plans on Friday for Kingsbury Commons at Pease Park.
According to a press release by Pease Park Conservancy Kingsbury Commons will be a project that transforms the lower 13 acres of the park.
“The Parks and Recreation Department (PARD) has been looking forward to this moment since PARD and the Conservancy began the planning process for the Pease Park Master Plan in 2013,” said Kimberly McNeely, Acting Director of the City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department. “This is such an exciting time for Pease Park, and for Austin as a whole, this treasured civic landmark is revitalized and restored.”
Pease Park Conservancy stated the new designs will enhance the park to better serve the needs of Austinites, and will create a hub of play and community, while protecting the natural landscape of the park.
The group leading the design and construction on the project is Ten Eyck Landscape Architects, Inc.
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According to the Pease Park Conservancy, here are the initial plans for the Kingsbury Commons project:
• An adaptation to the 1920’s Tudor Cottage into a community gathering space by Clayton & Little Architects.
• New multi-use facilities to serve as a hub for park volunteer activity. These structures will house modern restrooms, storage, and additional picnicking space to supplement the overcrowded existing picnic facilities and concrete block restrooms, also designed by Clayton & Little.
• There will be a new innovative and educational play pod inspired by the native species and trees of the park, designed by Mell Lawrence Architects.
• There will be new children’s play areas, including an age-specific play area for preschoolers and young children.
• A state-of-the-art splash pad will be installed, which will be about three times the size of the existing splash pad.
• New basketball and volleyball courts will be installed, and an inviting entrance on the eastern side of Shoal Creek will welcome all of Austin to the park.
• An interpretive stone ribbon will wind throughout Kingsbury Commons, connecting activities from around the area, and will offer a place to see the ecology and long history of Pease Park.
• New signage is expected to increase awareness of elements within the park with added information on the park’s historical and cultural heritage.
• New bike racks and bunches as well with a restoration of historic picnic tables will offer a place for people to park their bikes and take a break.
• The park will become more accessible with native landscaping, new sidewalks, and changes to the parking lot at the intersection of Parkway and Kingsbury.
• Improvements to the natural landscape will be made with added vegetation, built-in meadows, wildflowers, a woodland understory, and a substantial native flowering tree grove along Lamar Boulevard.
Pease Park Conservancy wants to let everyone know, while this will be a big change for the park, they won’t be compromising the history and natural beauty of the park.
“This project will transform the lower 13 acres of the park, while maintaining its natural intergity and historic character,” said Pease Park Conservancy CEO, Heath Riddles. ”We are witnessing an incredible moment in the rich and exciting history of Pease Park. The work we are doing out there now, in partnership with the City of Austin and Ten Eyck, is a true gift for everyone who loves Austin‘s green spaces, both now and in the future.”
Pease Park Conservancy stated the Kingsbury Commons addition to the park is made possible in part by the $9.7 million gift from the Moody Foundation in October 2017, and by continued contributions from the community.