At the Jan. 15 Downtown Commission meeting, Waterloo Greenway Conservancy representatives presented design updates for Palm Park and a construction progress report on the Confluence, the multi-acre creek and trail restoration that will link Fourth Street to Lady Bird Lake.

Melissa Ayala, vice president of government relations for the Conservancy, said the group completed a six-month community engagement process that reached roughly 2,000 people, including Palm School alumni and residents from downtown and Southeast Austin. Ayala said feedback emphasized honoring Palm Park’s history, creating family-friendly spaces and programming, and incorporating art and cultural interpretation into the park.

John Rigdon, the Conservancy’s chief planning and design officer, walked commissioners through the concept design and the Confluence construction. Rigdon said the Palm Park concept groups public comments into five themes — tree canopy and shade, family and play spaces, gathering areas, places of memory and community identity — and the design aims to preserve existing mature trees while adding new canopy, enclosed play areas for different ages and nature-based play, restored shelter-house facilities with accessible restrooms, and shade structures that visually honor the historic pool that once stood on the site.

Rigdon described a participatory element of the design process: local children, working with playscape designers Monstrum, created clay models and drawings that the design team is using to shape play structures. He said the project is approaching a schematic design milestone (about 30% complete) and that the Conservancy will continue to evolve details in later design phases.

On construction, the Conservancy said the Confluence, a roughly 13.5-acre project adjacent to Palm Park, is more than halfway complete. Rigdon described mobility and restoration work that includes nearly continuous off-street connectivity from Fourth Street to the Butler Trail, roughly 200,000 plants and 1,500 trees planned for planting (the Conservancy contrasted that with earlier planting totals in Waterloo Park), and new boardwalks and bridges that bypass dangerous intersections. He said an 800-foot boardwalk and three lattice truss bridges are being installed; one of the bridges is a 142-foot span and another 14-foot-wide bridge on the Butler Trail will open to the public in the coming weeks.

Commissioners asked about operations and maintenance, interpretive planning and how the planned highway cap at Cesar Chavez might affect connections to East Austin. Ayala said the Conservancy is responsible for long-term operations, maintenance and programming and has been developing an interpretive strategy and history report to inform signage and cultural interpretation. Rigdon said potential caps on the highway present an opportunity to reconnect East and West and the Conservancy is coordinating with city and project stakeholders on that issue.

Ayala and Rigdon also described coordination with adjacent property owners and businesses during construction to minimize disruption and to establish clear public-access connections; they said many businesses welcome increased daytime foot traffic outside evening entertainment hours. Conservancy representatives invited commissioners to tour the Confluence construction and to follow later design milestones for Palm Park.

Ending: The Conservancy said the Confluence bridges and boardwalks will open in phases and that Palm Park construction is intended to follow completion of the Confluence; a target completion date for the overall Confluence project was not specified in the presentation.