The development of Town Lake Park began in the 1960’s following the completion of the Longhorn Dam. Prior to the dam being built, the southern edge of the Colorado River was barren and eroded from floods that plagued the river south of Tom Miller dam. The stabilized lake edge provided by the Longhorn Dam made a public park space viable in this area. A visionary team called the Town Lake Beautification Committee was formed and spearheaded by Lady Bird Johnson. Lady Bird and her colleagues sought to beautify the lake edge with a trail and park improvements so that residents and visitors could enjoy nature in an urban setting for years into the future.

The Women in Construction Pavilion was dedicated in 1970 and kicked off the Town Lake beautification projects. It was during this series of construction projects that the Auditorium Shores terraces and the Bicentennial Fountain feature were built. Fund raising efforts provided money for trees & shrubs to be planted in the park. Rest points were added along an improved decomposed granite trail that ran along North & South banks of Lady Bird Lake. In 1975 the approval of the Capital Improvement Project bond money moved the Committee’s focus to the Festival Beach area along Town Lake, and the Auditorium Shores park site remained largely unchanged for the next 20 years.

In 1998, City of Austin residents voted in favor of proposition 11, which allocated rent-car tax dollars towards the creation of the Town Lake Park Master Plan, defined by the area bounded by Lady Bird Lake to the North, Riverside Drive to the South, South 1st to the East and the now abandoned Dawson Road to the West. Since the adoption of the master plan in 1999, two phases of construction have been completed which bring the city closer to reaching the goals established in the master plan. Palmer Auditorium was built in Phase I and Phase II work resulted in the green space known as Butler Park. With these two phases completed, Phases III & IV along Lady Bird Lake are the last phases remaining to be renovated in accordance with the master plan.

Source: City of Austin

Park Improvements on the Way

Good news! Renovation and improvements coming to Auditorium Shores.

August 25, 2011 - Auditorium Shores Gets $1 Million Grant For Improvements - Better restrooms, an educational water feature, and maybe a few more parking spaces could come to Auditorium Shores in the future. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has awarded the City of Austin a $1 million urban park grant to make improvements to the Austin's most popular trailhead.

Few or no improvements have been made to the park since it's dedication in 1973, but that's fixing to change. The park was originally built as a Land and Water Conservation Fund Project, sponsored by the City of Austin in cooperation with the Department of Interior, Bureau of Outdoor Recreation and through the Texas State Parks and Wildlife Department. Today, almost 40 years later, the park is slated for improvements.

Auditorium Shores and Town Lake Park is a mixed use park, with a variety of interests: trail traffic, an event venue, fitness training, several memorials, the arts and yes - dogs. The task before the community is that of preserving the open space, while recognizing the communities of interest.

Sure it would be nice to have a ferris-wheel next to our boardwalk, but the reality is we have limited funding. The park's priorities start with the needs of the basic infrastructure.  Electrical and irrigation systems are outdated and in some locations inoperable (no grass and dying trees). Terrace walls along Auditorium Shores are damaged in numerous locations.  Night time lighting is either broken, inadequate or absent.  Shoreline erosion is a growing problem and water for human hydration is limited to two drinking fountain within the entire park. And safety...

Dogs at Town Lake Park

Town Lake Park is a designated Off Leash Area (OLA) by the city of Austin, along with 10 other OLAs in the city. The park's off-leash area is Austin's most popular dog park, based on the 2009 Austin Dog Park Survey. And due to popularity, the park faces general safety and wear and tear issues that need to be addressed. Dogs dangerously intersect with pedestrians on the trail and - turf is nonexistent. See how Parks and Rec plans to address the issue.

Get Involved - Donate and Volunteer

You can be part of the redevelopment fun. The park will need park benches, kiosks and other minor elements that we, the community can get involved with. To learm more, visit Austin Parks Foundation's Support Auditorium Shores donation page.

Please support supporting our Parks and Recreation staff, led by Director, Sara Hensley, the Parks and Recreation Board, the Parks Foundation, and City Council.

Bill Fraser, Auditorium Shores Park Adopter and Chair of Austin's Dog Park Committee.

EMail Contact On Twitter: Town Lake Park and Auditorium Shores and WTFraser.

And no, the park will not have a ferris-wheel.