posted on May 13, 2011 01:58
The city formed a previously-announced public-private partnership to help devise a master plan for its massive Waller Creek Tunnel Project.
The Waller Creek Conservancy, a 501c3 backed by one of Austin’s heaviest philanthropic hitters, was formed last year with the intention of helping the city with its plan to reclaim about 28 flood plain acres downtown. The partners will enact policies for development once the $144-million project finishes, plus launch a fundraising effort to rehabilitate the creek and create three public parks and other amenities.
"We have an opportunity to create a space for Austin that won't come along again in our lifetimes," said Melba Whatley, who runs private oil, gas and real estate investment firm MDW Interests and is one of the Conservancy's founding members. Others included Tom Meredith, a former Dell Inc. chief financial officer who has become synonymous with Austin philanthropy; and Melanie Barnes, an ardent nature advocate, lawyer and wife of political magnate Ben Barnes.
The city commenced work in April on the immense stormwater bypass needed for the project. It will run a mile from Waterloo Park near Brackenridge Hospital to discharge at Lady Bird Lake once complete.
Both the city and conservancy have pitched in $400,000 for the master planning effort. The Waller Creek Conservancy anticipates it will raise about $60 million from private donors and foundations, according to a press release.
Also in February, Austin City Council members voted to increase city drainage fees to help pay for the project's repeatedly growing price tag. The estimate was raised to $144 million that month from $136 million in 2010, which officials attributed to inflation and rising costs for steel, concrete and other building materials, among other factors.
"An important thing to note is while we're embarking on something Austin has yet to do on this scale, we're not reinventing the wheel," Barnes said. "We've carefully studied other conservancies that oversee places such as Central Park in New York, Millennium Park in Chicago and Discovery Green in Houston — and are using their success as a template for how we can accomplish similar objectives here in Austin."
The Conservancy will also launch an international design competition in September to solicit concepts from landscape architects, architects and artists. Finalists will be narrowed to eight by November, four in December, with a winner's ceremony sometime in May next year.
For more about the project, click here.
4/28/11, Austin Business Journal