Please join us tonight at 6pm @ 801 w. 5th st. (Threshold Interiors)
Featured Speaker :: Diana Zuniga, President of Investors Alliance
Refreshments Provided
Public Parking in The Monarch garage for $5
Archives for 2009
Downtown Austin Block Purchased By Episcopal Church
The Episcopal Church has purchased a full city block in downtown Austin to eventually house its archives. According to the Statesman, the church paid Austin real estate attorney, Jimmy Nassour, $9.5MM. Right now the property is being used as a surface level parking lot next to the ARCH.
Work Begins On Green Water Treatment Plant
Today we received official word that work has begun on the Green Water Treatment Plant in downtown Austin. According to Cynthia De Witt Jordan, project manager with COA Public Works dept, “the general contractor, Austin Filter Systems Inc. has begun performing actual deconstruction work activities this week after a period of time preparing the site. The City is very glad to finally see this important project move forward.”
This first phase of work is limited to the deconstruction of the existing plant. Top priorities are environmental remediation, recycling of applicable materials, Shoal Creek bank stabilization and finally site restoration.
URBAN CORE HAPPY HOUR
URBAN CORE HAPPY HOUR: RSVP by June 9th
Thursday, June 11, 2009
6:30 PM to 8:30 PM
El Sol y La Luna @ 600 E. 6th St. (map) (transit)
DANA Members, please join us Thursday, June 11th at 6:30 at El Sol y La Luna for this month’s Urban Core Happy Hour. El Sol y La Luna has relocated from its long time home on South Congress to Austin’s Historic Sixth Street. Please join us for some great food, drinks and live music provided by Timba Rain.
Concrete Jungle
To the chagrin of environmentalists and taxing authorities alike, Austin has many concrete lots. Lots that used to have a structure on it but are now vacant. Like parking lots, vacant lots that have the appearance of being abandoned are one of the more invasive forms of urban blight. In San Francisco, CMG Landscape Architects have been found a nifty way to improve the visual landscape and help remove thermal hotspots. Inspired by the vegetation that begins to grow in the cracks and along the fringes of concrete, the “Crack Garden” (they really could have picked a better name) harnesses plant growth in harsh urban environments.
There is a lot on the corner of E 5th and San Jacinto, bound by chain link fence, that is the result of a fire years ago. The owner doesn’t even use it for parking. The owner should consider the social benefits of allowing a group to come in and manage a project like this until he is ready to develop the lot. The City of Austin should encourage and property owners should embrace grassroots and affordable improvements to the urban landscape. I imagine we would have plenty of volunteers ready to lend a hand.
-Jude