Trust Enables Parkland Purchase
Aerial of Barton Creek Greenbelt
Photo Courtesy Sarah Larocca
Sept 1993
The City adds nearly 750 acres of green space, securing the keystone piece of the Barton Creek Wilderness Park through a cooperative purchase from the Trust for Public Land. This acquisition, along with several others in subsequent years, was possible due to the 1992 bond approval of $20 million dollars for Barton Creek parkland purchases.
In 1992 citizens passed the bonds necessary to purchase tracts of land for a greenbelt. The Trust for Public Land had previously purchased the ranch land with the intent to sell it to the City when feasible. Other portions not suitable for conservation were sold to developers and some of the land was used to expand Mopac Expressway.
The fact that it actually happened is a miraculous thing, and it was driven by the people of Austin's conviction that we had to save the creek and the springs and other environmental resources. Keep your eyes on the prize, and the details will come together...[But] none of that would have happened, without the Trust for Public Land. They were the only people that were in a position to buy that option.
— Beverly Griffith, Parks Advocate
