Accomplishments

What we’ve accomplished…

• Elected a board of directors, developed a committee system, incorporated as a non-profit,and expanded the board.
• Organized cleaning events that have brought in scores of swimmers and friends of Barton Springs to work beside the staff to clean the Pool.
• Created Council Cleans the Pool Day, an annual event when members of the City Council and their staffs help us clean the Pool.
• Urged the City Council for more funding for the Pool. The City Manager then allocated $500,000 for capital improvements to the Pool, which was adopted by the Council.
• Worked with the Council and Aquatics staff to develop a resolution to create and fund a Barton Springs Master Plan.
• Played a key role in scoping the master plan contract with city staff and articulating issues for the master plan consultants.
• Encouraged the city to remove the gravel bar from the deep end of the Pool, inspiring the city’s first use of suction hoses to remove debris.
• Spoke up for the interests of swimmers and the citizens of Austin in the cleaning, maintenance, and improvement of the Pool.
• Organized over 2500 volunteer hours to help clean the Pool.
• Removed at least 12,000 lbs. of algae.
• Developed a culture of stewardship through which we learn about the Pool as we work to care for it.
• Initiated a joint project with Aquatics and Watershed staff to rewrite the operating manual for the Pool.
• Worked with the Council and Aquatics staff to pass a resolution to create and fund a Barton Springs Master Plan.
• Perhaps our biggest accomplishment to date is represented by the 2008 budget. City Council responded to our requests concerning the maintenance, accessibility, and environmental state of the Pool by allocating $6.2 million for renovations!
• Organized Barton Springs Pool Treeathlon in cooperation with Austin Parks Foundation to raise $28,500 in net proceeds for the Barton Springs Tree Fund and other projects benefiting Barton Springs Pool.
• Secured a $300,000 grant from TCEQ to repair the bypass tunnel.
• Perhaps our biggest accomplishment to date is represented by the 2008 budget. City Council responded to our requests concerning the maintenance, accessibility, and environmental state of the Pool by allocating $6.2 million for renovations!
• Worked to include Barton Springs Pool Bathhouse Renovation project in 2012 City of Austin Bond Package to obtain, securing $2M for the renovation project.