Today (30-Jan-10) marks the second week of the Austin Farmers Market using Republic Square as its new home base and the first week of the deck being using as cafe and entertainment area. Despite the cold weather, people (and their dogs) were out in force enjoying our new deck and the market.
We’re pleased to announce that the Republic Square Auction Oaks Phase 1b project is substantially complete and we’ve removed the construction fence. Still left to do are some touch-up work, installation of the metal tree grate (coming in mid-February) and allowing the sod to root in. We will be putting out tables and chairs soon and the Farmer’s Market is planning on using the deck on Saturday.
Photo by Michael Knox, City of Austin Economic Development
We also learned that the Austin Parks Foundation as well as TBG Partners, Inc. (our landscape Architects who designed Phases 1a and 1b) were awarded the 2009 Community Forestry Award for “Aboricultural Project: Republic Square Tree Preservation Project”. We were nominated by Bartlett Tree Experts, who did all of the root zone work for the three Auction Oaks. We’re thrilled to have received this award.
Super Invasive Volunteer Jerry demonstrates weed wrench use
Thanks to the Bouldin Neighborhood Parks Committee for hosting their second monthly volunteer workday. We continued to pull out or cut down Invasive species in the greenbelt as part of City approved restoration plan. We focused on the “big 3″ – ligustrum, chinaberry and nandina.
Building the winrow
We were aided by Parks Committee Sal who brought his landscaping crew to take out some of the bigger trees. Volunteers worked with hand saws, loppers and weed wrenches and stacked the invasives into winrows to minimize the spread of seeds. The next volunteer workday is Sat, Feb 20 from 8:30 am to 1 pm. Snacks are served and they were yummy (breakfast tacos and later pizza.)
Building another winrow
completed winrow
The West Bouldin Creek Greenbelt workday has been rescheduled from last Saturday (1/16) to this Saturday (1/23) from 8:30 to 1 pm. We’ll meet at the South 6th Street entrance to the greenbelt. – Link to park page and map:
http://www.austinparks.org/apfweb/park.php?parkId=374
We’ll be bring some tools, but if you have handsaws, shovels or rakes, please bring those. We also recommend wearing boots, long pants, long-sleeved shirt and gloves as protection against poison ivy (though it is somewhat dormant right now). Please join us and help restore the natural health and vitality of the greenbelt.
Coffee & tacos in the morning and refreshment at the end of the work session will be provided. Please RSVP to Ingrid @ urpprods@earthlink.net so we know how many tacos to order.
Women in Construction Pavilion Re-vamp Plan
Tonight – Tue, 1/19: Audtiorium Shores/Butler Park Stakeholder Meeting 6-8 pm 1/19 @ Town Lake Center, 721 Barton Springs Road. View and give comments on revised designs for improvements.
Proposed Alliance Childrens Garden Improvements
New Parking Lot Configuration
Ok, its no fun dealing with dog poop, but all responsible pet owners know that they need to pick it up. So, how about a fun video to let you know why it’s important?
Thanks again to Greg A for this photo – the nearly completed deck/stage project is in full view.
A few photos from a punch list follow-up meeting yesterday. Jacob from TBG Partners and Buddy from Cleanscapes were marking areas in the deck that need additional screws or cracks in the wood. Another Cleanscapes employee was sanding rough spots. With the cool and possibly rainy weather we might have to wait until next week to get the deck sealed, but things are looking really good.
It’s My Park Day is coming up on Sat, March 6th 2010 from 9 am to 1 pm. This is our annual citywide volunteer Workday and in 2009 we had over 60 park improvement projects with 2,500 volunteers. We are looking for sponsors to help us purchase T-shirts, snacks, and supplies for the expected 3,000 volunteers that we expect to have on March 6th. Sponsorships range from $1,000 ($500 for non-profits) up to a title sponsor for the entire event at $10,000 and each sponsorship comes with a different range of benefits. Complete Sponsorship info is posted here. You can also email us at apf@austinparks.org or call us at 512.477.1566
It’s nearly 2010 as we type this and we wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Year’s Eve. We also wanted to post a few new cellphone photos (sorry, left digital camera in sister’s car in the Boston area) of our nearly completed Phase 1b of Republic Square – we pulled back the fencing from the south lawn today but fencing still surrounds the new deck/stage area.
The deck needs to be washed, sanded and sealed – several coats – and there’s a punch list of other items for our contractor to complete, but the areas looks largely done – the path, grass sod, stone bollards and chain, mulch around the trees are all installed. We’re also awaiting the delivery of our custom tree grate. it won’t be long now. The Austin Farmers Market will be using the park soon every Saturday but our delayed schedule for finishing this project has pushed the start date back a few more weeks.
Sorry for the glare - Phone Cameras don't do well into even partial sun, but wanted to show the deck surface.
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