You are hereCity of Austin tightening belt and removing free swim at Barton Springs. Cost-cutting measure or anti-cycling move?
City of Austin tightening belt and removing free swim at Barton Springs. Cost-cutting measure or anti-cycling move?
Update: Just found the story! Statesman talked about this a little over a week ago, citing the increased attendance for the free hours in 2009 and the cost of staffing being a concern. A couple article snippets follow:
But attendance numbers from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m., when the pool closes, now swell into the hundreds some nights, Jay said. The Save Our Springs Alliance hosts live music at the pool on full-moon summer nights, which has become a big draw. Many visitors on those nights join together to howl at the moon. The parks department is not looking to change that event, Jay said.
There have also been concerns about alcohol and drug use at the pool on crowded nights, Jay said.
Weed and beer? At a swimming hole? In Austin?!? I'm shocked, my friends, SHOCKED at this accusation. There are going to be two public meetings to discuss this on Feb. 10 and March 2 at 6 p.m. at 400 Deep Eddy Ave. Be there if you want to make your voice heard.
I read a story about this recently, but a reader wrote me and reminded me of something I wanted to share with y'all. It looks like the city is fed up with the large crowds that occasionally descend on the late night 9pm-10pm free swim at Barton Springs, and so rather than hire staff to cover it or just deal with an hour of a crowd at the pool, they're planning on REMOVING the free swim at the end of the day. Here's what Jimmy has to say about the move, plus information on a public meeting regarding the issue:
You may not have heard that the City is killing off the evening free swim. Now I've seen many a ride end up there, and I think the two are related. The COA is apparently concerned about (and over-reacting to) the numbers of people showing up. I'm there as much as five to six times a week, always after 9 p.m., pretty much 8 or 9 months of the year. I've never seen anyone drinking. Never seen anyone fighting. Never seen any horseplay, just people using the diving board, howling at the moon when it's full, and just generally enjoying themselves.
This is a very bad deal for those of modest means, like yours truly. Honestly, I guess I'll be headed to the doggie pool at the far end unless the Parks & Rec folks see fit to come to their senses. FWIW: there is a public hearing scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 10 at 6 p.m. at 400 Deep Eddy Ave. Anyone who enjoys cooling off at the Springs after a fun ride should be aware of what's going down.
Thanks for reminding me Jimmy. I'll link the news story with more detyails as soon as I can find it.
"Officials say attendance has grown so large, especially after 9 p.m., that they must keep a full shift of lifeguards on duty." "now often has six to eight past 9 p.m. in order to ensure safety"
I only recall seeing 1-2 lifeguards tops, the rest of the staff must be for the purpose of crowd control and rule enforcement.
I wonder if this change will kill the party on full-moon nights. Surely there can be some comprimise, a pro-rated entry fee or just making it 'swim at your own risk'.
"More than 50,000 people visited the pool during free hours in 2009 , an increase of 10,000 people from 2008"
Well no shit, it was one of the few places to get any relief from what was probably the hottest summer of record.
Luckily mother nature is being kind to us right now with all the rain, perhaps there won't need to be so much reliance on Barton Springs this summer.
My initial reaction to this is that it is probably more about budget cuts than trying to discourage people from using the facilities. Sounds kind of paranoid to jump straight to this is an assault on the cycling community.
Elliott from Austin On Two Wheels
I agree that it's MORE about budget cuts than anything else, but what can I say, I like catchy headlines! I've also heard a bit more of the behind-the-scenes dealings between the social bike community and Barton Springs folks, and they have some specific objections to our crew showing up en masse, locking our bikes to everything in sight, and allegedly consuming alcoholic beverages and worse on the premises. Though they don't say it in their official statement to the press, it seems like it's more than coincidental.
Me? Paranoid? (looks over shoulder)
when the meeting with the city to have the thursday night social ride kicked off of the bridge, the representative from barton springs was one of the most contentious of the whole group.
she actually was against us coming back and stated objections to us parking our bikes on the fence to some "drug and alcohol abuse".
i'm with jason on this because the timing is too perfect. in just a short while, it will be time for us to return to swimming and i think this is a measure to discourage that.
and i have no problem paying a measly 3 bucks to get it, but the logistics of moving 300 people into the pool would take around 30 minutes... basically half of the whole free swim.
I cannot believe they are considering taking away one of the best Austin traditions of the summer. That is my absolute favorite thing to do and what I've been looking forward to all winter! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! EVERYONE comes out to the free swims at night. Friends run into other friends and it becomes a party. We only descended there once a week for the Social Ride, what gives? I will be at that meeting.
A good thing gets better and in Austin people want to take it away. Did any one else think this free hour was put into place to bring more people to the pool?! Well thats what we did and now they want to take it away. Lame.
"Anti cycling". right.
That's a shame, but...do you guys ever PAY to swim at Barton Springs, too? I understand the free nights (there's free mornings, too, for lap swim) but APARD relies heavily on that gate fee.
This board is starting to sound like a broken record. Jesus, there's less drama over in the lycra-clad, racer boards (instead, they just directly hate on each other).
I pay to attend Barton Springs Pool fairly regularly. I also jump the fence at 2am after the bars close and swim for free fairly regularly. What does that have to do with the price of tea in china? My concern stems from how long it would take to process 300 paying riders through the gates at 9pm at night, and whether they'd have any time to swim once they got through? It's not the money and I'd be happy to pay, it's the overhead and time sink that this will create if they shut down free admission after 9pm.
Fuck yeah this site sounds like a broken record. It's my broken record. Want to listen to another one? Go hit up someone else's blog.
Yes, I do.
And I'd rather have drama involving something the city is doing that will disrupt tradition than hate on my fellow cyclists.