The expansion and enhancement of a beloved community amenity through robust community input.
The Govalle neighborhood is historically Hispanic and has experienced environmental injustice through tank storage and other waste products. The restoration, expansion, and enhancement of the pool and surrounding amenities will be an amenity for a community that has been overlooked and under resourced.
The project commissioned two artists to install a sculpture and a mural at the pool. The sculpture sits in a rain garden, which emphasizes and enhances the resilience of the community, and the mural will be a result of extensive community engagement.
The design team worked with the neighborhood association to engage community members about their memories at the pool. The meeting was conducted in English and Spanish.
Govalle Park is a historic park that is now serving a rapidly growing population and new connections including the recently completed Southern Walnut Creek bike trail. Asakura Robinson served as the prime consultant on the new pool design, which incorporates an expanded lap pool, new activity pool, a bathhouse, shade structures and pool deck area. The project is built around a focus on input from neighborhood residents and local stakeholders. The public’s input gave the team valuable knowledge on design preferences, essential amenities, site concerns and rich stories of how the park has been used over the past half century.
The robust public input portion of the project set a new standard for community engagement on City of Austin projects, and included three community meetings as well as presentations to the neighborhood association, engaging local stakeholders in a series of hands-on exercises, a site walk-through and bilingual presentation and input materials. Upon completion, Asakura Robinson provided a conceptual master plan for pathways to the pool area in addition to full design and construction administration services for the neighborhood pool upgrade.
