[ad_1]
The current interior of the Seaholm reception facility. Image: City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department / Studio Gang
Can you say that we are excited about the Seaholm Waterfront project? Our nervous coverage of the city’s plan to convert the historic 1950s former reception building of the former Seaholm Power Station into a new public space and venue on Lady Bird Lake followed the various phases of the project’s presentation long before a master’s appearance Plan for the room from a famous design company Studio aisle in 2018, and after a long wait and a pandemic, we are pleased to announce that the plan will reach a milestone at the city council meeting next week in the realization of its first important phase:
Seaholm Intake Building Phase 1 renovation: For this project, on June 3, approval will be sought from the Council to negotiate and execute an agreement with Balfour Beatty Construction Group, Inc. for a competitive sealed bid for construction works for an amount not exceeding $ 3,200,000.00.
– City of Austin Parks and Recreation Board, director’s report, May 25th
In the first stage of the rehab phase of this Art Deco-inspired facility, locals are like that Parks and Recreation Department, the Trail Foundation, the Austin Parks Foundation, and architecture office Cotera + reeds. It is perhaps the most critical phase of the plan, if not the sexiest phase on paper – in the language of the city, the goal of that $ 3.2 million is to build the “… lawful buildings.”
Image: Austin Parks and Recreation Department / Cotera + Reed Architects
This requires updates such as sprinklers, additional ventilation, lighting, railings around the various chasms of the inlet, ADA and egress adjustments, a new roof and so on. Conservation considerations in this phase include removing at least thirty years of graffiti and a general scrubbing that respects the character-giving aspects of the place – “the gentlest means possible,” according to the plan.
Image: City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department / Studio Gang
The importance of this phase, funded by general bond issues and the city’s hotel occupancy tax program, lies in its ability to publicize the later phases of the facility’s master plan and motivate action to complete them. These are pretty minor adjustments – $ 3.2 million is a lot of money for a house, but actually a pretty reasonable price to pay for public works – but once they’re done the various parties involved in the project can start doing events and other things to host activities that bring people into the room, which is the fastest way to prove its historical character.
The Seaholm power station, seen across the lake in 1964. Image: The Trail Foundation
Let’s put it this way – as a reader of this page you are a very dedicated townsperson, but I assure you that a lot of people don’t think about this building at all and it won’t be hard to change that once we get them in we’ll see how cool it really is.
Part of Studio Gang’s 2018 master plan shows exterior features such as this lakeside docking area in later stages of admission adjustment. Image: City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department / Studio Gang
There’s another reason we’re following this plan so closely – we believe it reflects well the city’s slow philosophical shift towards adaptive reuse in the public interest. Compare this project’s intense focus on public access to the public-private partnership that spawned the Seaholm District itself more than five years ago, which inexplicably turned the magnificent turbine hall of the former Seaholm power station into private office space rather than a public facility by far the largest source of the building’s interior design and historical character.
This rendering from Studio Gang’s 2018 master plan for the Seaholm Waterfront shows the interior of the reception building, which has been adapted for use as a public space. Image: City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department / Studio Gang
This rendering from Studio Gang’s 2018 master plan for the Seaholm Waterfront shows the interior of the reception building, which is used for regular events. Image: City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department / Studio Gang
This rendering from Studio Gang’s 2018 master plan for the Seaholm Waterfront shows the interior of the reception building, which is used for larger events such as concerts – all of these concepts are possible if the structure is made habitable. Image: City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department / Studio Gang
It’s a decision we know many city officials now regret, and this plan offers an opportunity to make up some of that loss by opening a similarly fascinating piece of industrial architecture to a new generation of Austinites. We do not expect any problems from the council with the approval of this next step at next week’s meeting as it has already signed the master plan itself – in other words, let’s do it.
connected
[ad_2]
