The Austin Parks and Recreation Department (PARD) is currently receiving feedback on the renaming of “Payton Gin Pocket Park” to “Heron Hollow Pocket Park.” Community members are invited to provide input online (in Spanish) on the suggested name change. In addition, PARD staff will be on-hand to engage with community members and solicit survey feedback on two dates.

Community Outreach Events at Payton Gin Pocket Park
801 Payton Gin Road, Austin, TX 78758
June 5, 2020, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
June 12, 2020, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Information on the name change and survey links can be found at austintexas.gov/heronhollow. The deadline for submitting input is June 16, 2021.

Background
On June 29, 2000, the Austin City Council passed an ordinance adopting the North Austin Civic Association (NACA) Neighborhood Plan. The Neighborhood Plan called for the creation of a pocket park at the Old Fiskville site located at Lamar Boulevard and Payton Gin Road. The Plan also called for assistance to recognize the site as a local historical site.

In the early 2000s NACA conducted a contest and community engagement process to name the park. “Heron Hollow Park” was the name that was selected; however, the renaming was never memorialized by PARD, and there is no archive of this process. Since its creation, this site has been referred to as both “Payton Gin Pocket Park” and “Heron Hollow Pocket Park.” The Department refers to this site as the Payton Gin Pocket Park because of its proximity to Payton Gin Road.

Following the reaffirmation of NACA’s commitment to the name, NACA requested that PARD officially rename the park to “Heron Hollow Pocket Park.” Although the Austin Parks and Recreation Board (PARB) does recognize the previously held process to name the park Heron Hollow, PARB gave direction at its May 25, 2021 meeting (Item B5) to initiate additional community engagement, as outlined in current municipal code, to supplement the process that took place in the early 2000s.