Crafting a new oasis along Waller Creek

The extensive Waller Creek project starts today with improvements and additions to Waterloo Park.

Work begins on a $64 million project in Waterloo Park that’s the first step to having a string of parkland along Waller Creek.

A chain of parks and trails more than five years in the making will break ground Wednesday on its first phase, with an ultimate goal of restoring Waller Creek, connecting Central and South Austin trail systems and lining downtown with green space.

The Waller Creek project will run from Waterloo Park, near Trinity and 12th streets down to where the creek runs into Lady Bird Lake, near Red River Street, creating or renovating 37 acres of public park space following the creek for about a mile and a half. The nonprofit Waller Creek Conservancy is spearheading the effort, using a combination of its own fundraising and public dollars.

Eventually, plans call for a floating pedestrian bridge over Lady Bird Lake, a revamped Palm Park and, at some point yet to be determined, demolition of the Austin Police Department building for parkland and new development.

But the first step is a $64 million rebuild of Waterloo Park that conservancy officials hope to finish by the end of 2019. That includes $15 million from the city, $1 million from a state grant, $27 million the conservancy has raised and $21 million that it hasn’t yet raised.

The improvements at Waterloo will include a new amphitheater, a large lawn, winding walking trails and new gardens and play spaces built into the hillsides and corners of the 11-acre park.

“Each of these spaces has a distinct character,” conservancy CEO Peter Mullan said. “In many ways Waterloo Park is the microcosm of the entire project,”

The Waller Creek Tunnel has been under construction on the southern side of Waterloo Park since 2011. To the public, the tun-

JAY JANNER / AMERICAN-STATESMAN Waterloo Park in downtown Austin, seen on Tuesday, will be getting an amphitheater, large lawn and gardens, walking trails, play spaces and other improvements.

TOM MCCARTHY JR. FOR AMERICAN-STATESMAN Work will begin today on the Waller Creek Conservancy’s project to create a string of parks along downtown’s eastern edge, running along the creek made less flood-prone by the Waller Creek Tunnel.