Exactly one year ago, I had marked Austin Museum Day 2015 on my calendar. I always enjoy this September Sunday when local museums and historical sites open their doors free-of-charge to visitors. This year I carefully planned my day ahead of time, bypassing the popular museums that I could visit any time. Instead I selected those places that are usually closed to the public or off the beaten track…
The final stage of the Auditorium Shores park renovation, the new leash-free area, is nearly completed and should open in the coming weeks. In the meantime, several smaller improvements have been implemented along the Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail. For example, a wooden split-rail fence now separates the path from the shoreline of Lady Bird Lake.
According to The Paramount Theatre’s website, a large sign blade announcing P-A-R-A-M-O-U-N-T had been attached above the theatre’s entrance from 1930 to 1963. It was removed for renovation and was never replaced. No one knows what happened to the original sign. Now a new blade has been commissioned as part of The Paramount’s 100th anniversary celebration.
On Tuesday evening, Austin’s Mexican-American community celebrated Fiesta del Grito. This annual tradition commemorates the start of Mexico’s war of independence from Spain, which began in 1810 with a call to arms by a Catholic priest, Miguel Hidalgo. Mexican Independence Day is celebrated the next day, Diez y Seis de Septiembre (September 16).
Recently Bill and I visited the Stark Center for Physical Culture & Sports. This museum is located in the north section of the University of Texas football stadium. We followed the posted signs which instructed us to enter near the main food court (Gate 16) and take the elevator to the fifth floor.
The Austin Firefighters Association held their annual 9-11 Memorial Ceremony this morning at the Buford Tower. This year’s event was well-attended and included city government officials, firefighters, news reporters, camera crews, and even an Americorps contingent.
Over 1600 triatheletes competed in Labor Day’s TriRock Austin, centered at the recently-renovated Auditorium Shores. The morning’s weather was sunny, warm, and humid—not the best conditions for a triathlon.
New works of art, including this mural in the Second Street District, have recently popped up around downtown. Given all the new construction projects, this is not surprising. Austin has a city ordinance that requires that “2% of eligible capital improvement project budgets are allocated to commission or purchase art for that site.” Some pieces are privately owned/funded, but most of the city’s public art is under the oversight of the Art in Public Places program.
Bat watching is one of Austin’s most unusual and most popular attractions. An estimated 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats—the world’s largest urban bat colony—live in the crevices underneath the Congress Avenue Bridge. Around sunset, the bats fly out en masse in search of food and return to the bridge before sunrise. The colony stays here from March through November and migrates to Mexico for the winter.
The Austin Fall Home & Garden Show took over the Austin Convention Center last weekend. Although I no longer own neither a house nor a garden, I still enjoyed looking at the latest trends and technologies. This time I decided to look for items that would be appropriate for downtown living. Here’s what I found: