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Walter E. Long Metro Park
Walnut Creek Metro Park

 

At the Austin Parks and Recreation Department, we preserve, protect and grow parkland; manage, maintain, and renovate our facilities and spaces; and create places and programs for Au…

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In The Parks With Aleu Aleu

As a boy, Aleu Aleu moved to Austin with his family, Sudanese refugees who had fled to Kenya where he was born and lived until the age of 12. 

Aleu Aleu playing basketball

He r…

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A Ride Bikes Austin meet-up with bikes in front of a tree in Parque Zaragoza
People pose with their bikes in and around a large tree at Parque Zaragosa

Photo courtesy of Raquel Ortega for Ride Bikes Austin

Ride Bikes Austin (RBA) regularly supports Amigos de Parque Zaragoza, park adopters of Parque Zaragoza Neighborhood Park. Everyone is welcome at these organizations’ free park events, volunteer clean-ups, and group bike rides.

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Joan Means Khabele as a senior in high school

 

Austin Parks and Recreation hosted a ceremony to honor Joan Means Khabele on Saturday, April 9, 2022 at Barton Springs Pool. After not being allowed to swim at her high school senior picnic, Khabele was the first Black person to jump into Barton Springs Pool in an act of civil disobedience. In doing so, she sparked a movement of swim-ins that took place on a weekly basis throughout the summer of 1960.

A performance by the Smooth and E…

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People play soccer on the Wooldridge School Park Mini Pitch
Four people play basketball at Govalle Neighborhood Park

Photo Courtesy of Elizabeth McGuire for Austin Parks Foundation

The 2020-2023 renovation of Govalle Neighborhood Park included a new playground, safety lighting, resurfacing and lighting for the basketball court, a softball field backstop, and new connection paths. Austin Parks Found…

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View of Diving Board at Barton Springs Pool

 

LifeguardAustin.com

 

The Aquatic Division of the Parks and Recreation Department is getting ready for swim season. It takes about 850 lifeguards to fully staff City pools during the summer months. There are currently 235 lifeguards on staff, so hundreds of positions are still open, for now. Hurry because, at $20.80 per hour for entry level positions, these jobs will go fast!

Winter Training
Lifeguard training happens year round. Get your Lifeguard certification or recertification no…

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Person on Bridge

pedestrian bridge
Episode 11 of the "In The Parks" video series features Park Rangers Melissa Hand and Jimmy Evans who explain why it is reckless and illegal to jump off bridges. Bridge jumpers can land on rocks, rebar, swimmers, boaters or animal life injuring themselves or innocent bystanders. 

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A vendor stands at a table at The People's Market at Republic Square
Visitors walk into The Creek Keeper, a walk-through art installation resembling an aquatic creature.

Photo Courtesy of Roger Ho for Waterloo Greenway

Waterloo Greenway has hosted Creek Show along Waller Creek since 2014. Austin-based artists, architects, designers, and landscape architects create weird, wondrous light-based art specific to each site. Everyone is welcome to this free, uniquely Austin experience.


This blog series explores Austin…

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Water Under the Bridge Part of EcosystemHundreds of people jump off bridges, so it must be harmless, right? Wrong! It is prohibited in Austin primarily because you can hurt or kill yourself or someone else. Jumpers can land on rocks, rebar, swimmers, boaters or animal life.

It can also impact the environment and negatively affect the aquatic ecosystem. People who jump off the Barton Springs pedestrian bridge could even harm the …

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Zilker Park Aerial

 

The City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department (PARD) joins the ranks of elite park and recreation agencies across the country by earning accreditation through the Commission for Accreditation of Park and Recreation Agencies (CAPRA) and the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA). This distinguished accomplishment was awarded during the 2023 NRPA Annual Conference.
 
CAPRA accreditation is the only national accreditation for park and recreation agencies and is a measure of an agency’s o…