A Generational Renovation for Barton Springs Pool

by: Robin Cravey

Fri Jan 09, 2009 at 03:19 PM CST

( - promoted by Karl-Thomas Musselman)

Only about once in a generation can we make a great difference for a cherished city landmark.  I got to participate in one such difference almost a generation ago when I worked with many others to pass the Save Our Springs ordinance.  I've had the privilege to participate in another such difference recently helping to develop the Barton Springs Pool Master Plan.  Now it's time for the city council to adopt the master plan.

Next Wednesday Councilmembers Sheryl Cole and Lee Leffingwell and friends of the pool will signal this advent with a press conference. Details will be forthcoming.

While the battle for the SOS ordinance was about indirect threats to Barton Springs happening over the aquifer, the master plan is about the deterioration of the pool and its facilities inside the fence that encloses this beautiful landmark.  Indeed, over the past two decades, it has seemed that the pool itself was forgotten.  This is not unusual.  Grand battles are heroic and exciting.  Maintenance and stewardship are not.

Besides all the other things it is, Barton Springs Pool is a city park facility.  And Austin is chronically derelict in caring for its park facilities.  Like Shoal Creek Trail and Deep Eddy Pool, Barton Springs Pool slowly decayed under the city's benign neglect for too long.  But now, like those other two facilities, Barton Springs Pool is receiving some overdue attention.

The Barton Springs Pool Master Plan is a conceptual document that sets out some great improvements for the pool, grounds, and buildings.  It envisions renovation of the bathhouse (including addition of a visitor center), landscaping and expansion of the pool grounds, and addition of an accessible trail and restrooms on the south side.  It also examines possibilities for redesign of the dams, bypass tunnel, and other pool structures to make the pool more natural and self-cleaning.
The plan resulted from a grassroots effort to care for the pool that began in 2006.  The city council authorized drafting the plan after scores of swimmer volunteers, under the banner of the Friends of Barton Springs Pool, worked with city staff to ramp up pool cleaning and identify needed improvements.  It was drawn up by consultants after a long and exhaustive process that included dozens of meetings, workshops, public hearings, and board and commission reviews.

During the planning process, volunteers, staff, and the consultants identified a dozen and a half short term projects that could and should go forward immediately.  The council appropriated over $6 million for those projects, and they are underway.  They include repairs to the bypass tunnel, removal of the overhead wires from the pool area, new pool lighting, arbor care for the trees, repairs to the bath house, and research into designs to benefit the health of the springs, survival of the salamanders, and enjoyment of the swimmers.

City council adoption of the Barton Springs Pool Master Plan is the next big step in this generational renovation of the pool and its facilities.  It is on the council agenda for approval January 15.  Lovers of the pool should contact council members to let them know you support the plan. I'll have more news on this soon.

Robin Cravey
vice-president
Friends of Barton Springs Pool

To show your support for Barton Springs Pool and the Master Plan:
• Send an email to members of the city council.
• Join us at City Hall on January 15 for the council meeting.
• If you can come to City Hall, drop me a message and we'll coordinate.
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