PARD’s Historic Preservation and Tourism Program (HPT) leads the restoration, stewardship, interpretation and promotion of the irreplaceable historic and cultural resources of Austin’s park system allowing visitors and residents to discover and experience an authentic connection to the city’s diverse history.

"A black and white photograph of Isamu Taniguchi, architect of the Japanese Garden at Zilker Botanical Garden. Taniguchi is kneeling on the ground working with plants and smiling. The moon bridge is in the background. Photo courtesy of Austin History Center, Austin Public Library."

The funding for many HPT projects is made possible through Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT) funding to support projects and initiatives that meet allowable uses as defined under Chapter 351 of the Texas Tax Code. HOT revenue is an essential tool for the promotion of tourism and supports the growth of the tourism, convention and hotel industry. PARD is an important partner in this effort as public parks, museums and cultural centers are among the top tourist attractions in the City.

Visit this link to learn more about some of Austin's historic sites.

If you would like assistance with a historic site or cultural resource in a park, please fill out the HPT General Request for Assistance form.

 


 
Historic Parks In The News

May 09, 2022

June 29, 2020

June 25, 2020

June 17, 2020

March 2, 2020

February 26, 2020

February 18, 2020

February 16, 2020

February 12, 2020

January 29, 2020

 


Historic and Cultural Resource Inventory

A photo montage of multiple historic PARD sites

Central to the core mission of the PARD is to protect and preserve the park system, which requires the active management of the historic and cultural resources of the park system. The basis of our stewardship of PARD's historic assets is our inventory, which tracks almost 500 sites, buildings, structures, and objects. The inventory is a work in progress--as we acquire new park land, make discoveries in parks, and update the landmark status of our resources, we will continue to grow the inventory and provide the correlated data. The PARD geospatial historic and cultural resource inventory can be found here.