by Robin Cravey
I had the opportunity to tour the Zilker Park maintenance barn recently. Emily Little and I asked for the tour. The maintenance barn is proposed to be the new location for the Splash! education center, and it would be a good one.
Maintenance barn at Barton Springs Pool
Emily is an architect, a member of the Austin Heritage Society, and a member of the Barton Springs Plan Coordinating Committee. Naturally, she has a special interest in the buildings, and their historic nature. She is a leader in the effort to move the pool entrance back to the rotunda where it belongs.
Moving the entrance back to the rotunda will necessarily take some space away from the existing Splash classrooms. The classrooms are on the opposite side of the rotunda from the Splash Exhibit. They’re two dingy little rooms where visiting students learn about nature.
The maintenance barn is an old quonset hut enclosed in a fenced compound near the playground. The compound contains gas tanks and equipment in open sheds. One look is enough to tell you that this mechanical facility is a little too close to Barton Creek. Moving the compound has been planned for years, and the staff is close to taking bids on the project.
Staffers John McKesson, Gary Gregson, and Clark Hancock conducted the tour. Clark is the director of the Splash Exhibit and classrooms. He sees the move as an opportunity to expand and improve the education facility.
It will be great to tear down the tall fence around the compound and turn that into a people place again. Of course, it will also take some serious cleanup to remove the residue of decades of equipment repair and other maintenance activities. But, envision young kids skipping down from that area to the creek, then climbing back with their samples to examine.
Back at the bathhouse, envision three or five cashiers at admission windows at the rotunda, with short lines or no waiting. Swimmers will enter through the center again, as was intended. And soon, when the major bathhouse renovation is done, we’ll have a visitor center. It’s a lot to look forward to, and to work for. Read More »
