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Austin Parks and Recreation

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A park on a sunny day with cityscape of Austin Texas in the background.

Dougherty Arts Center Redevelopment Project

Austin Parks and Recreation sought to take steps toward moving the Dougherty Arts Center out of the beloved naval center and into a newly envisioned building to be constructed on Butler Shores Park. This project is in the design document phase. City Council District 9

Background

Built in 1947 as a Naval and Marine Reserve Center, the Dougherty Arts Center (DAC) was dedicated to the City and named for the late arts advocate Mary Ireland Graves in 1978. Since then, the DAC has been offering arts experiences for a broad audience through its three main components: The Dougherty Theater, Julia C. Butridge Gallery and the Dougherty Arts School.

As identified in a conditions assessment completed in 2010, the DAC building is beyond repair. The building was established as a temporary structure meant to be razed in the 1970s but was adopted as a permanent home that has outlived its viability. Austin Parks and Recreation (APR) sought to provide a new facility in order to continue to provide arts center services in a safe, healthy and sustainable environment. This project followed a 2018 community engagement process and City Council direction in spring 2019.

Project Description

The project is currently in the design phase for the replacement of the existing DAC at a new location in Butler Shores Park. Funded by the 2018 Bond Proposition B, the new DAC facility will build on the existing core arts programs in an improved environment that can better accommodate Austin’s significant demand for affordable access to arts services. The conceptual planning and programming documents developed in 2018 with community consultation serve as the basis for this project.

Objectives

The goals for this project will build on the DAC’s mission: to support emerging through established artists who create, showcase and experience the arts first hand. APR envisions the DAC as Austin’s cultural living room, where people of all ages, races, ethnicities, abilities, genders, sexual orientations, socio-economic statuses, nationalities and religions gather to create community through the arts. Additional project goals identified in the planning phase include, but are not limited to:

  • Develop the surrounding parkland consistent with the vision for the Butler Shores and Cultural Arts District;
  • Strengthen trail connections and activating parkland through outdoor education, play and performance amenities;
  • Consider alternatives for pedestrian and vehicular circulation, site access and parking; and
  • Demonstrate high achievement in sustainable design for architecture and landscape.
Overhead drawing of new Dougherty Arts facility with buildings and lawn areas and facilities around the center
Image: Preliminary design approved by City Council, May 2021

Community Engagement

Funding and Resources

Primary funding comes from the 2018 Bond Proposition B. Read the Memo to City Council (PDF, 196kb), January 26, 2022, discussing funding challenges.

Previous Projects

2018 Community Engagement

The information below guided the initial process in 2018.

The DAC of Tomorrow

The DAC has been the focus of multiple studies which determined that the redevelopment at the current site, due to its location within the floodplain and atop a former landfill, is seen as prohibitive from a both a practical application and cost impact. APR has and continues to investigate feasible opportunities for the facility’s redevelopment.

Currently, there is one site on City of Austin parkland being considered – the site at Butler Shores. Potential benefits of the Butler Shores site include:

  • Site is within reasonable proximity and service area of existing facility
  • DAC Adjacency to APR Main Administrative Office Proximity to and potential partnership opportunities with the ZACH Theatre
  • Opportunity to improve parkland adjoining the APR Main office and new DAC
  • Opportunity for shared structured parking facility
  • Opportunity to enhance Toomey Road streetscape and pedestrian connectivity to Zilker Park Consistent with recommendations in Town Lake Park Comprehensive Plan and Imagine Austin Comprehensive Plan
  • Site is City of Austin Parkland and properly zoned for construction of a parks facility.
  • Video in English | video en español
Community Meetings
Presentations to Boards, Commissions, and Council
Supplemental Project Information
 
Design Phase 2020-2021
Community Engagement

Community engagement for the design phase began in October 2020, and the project team presented three site alternatives in early 2021. APR connected with audiences who already interact directly with the Dougherty Arts Center as well as decision-makers or individuals and organizations representing more extensive fields of interests or concerns. This engagement process also sought other communities who will be a part of DAC's future, building on the engagement from 2018.

Boards, Commissions, City Council

After the community engagement process above, the project team presented to the following City of Austin boards, commissions, and City Council:

These meetings were made available to the community and allow for participation. Click the link to the desired meeting for more information:

 
DACR-logo.jpg

Contact Information

For more information, please contact Tony Hron, Project Manager, at DACproject@austintexas.gov or by phone at (512) 974-9469.