Grand Opening of Dove Springs District Park’s Innovative Playscape

The City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department and the Austin Parks Foundation formed a pilot partnership to commission an innovative design for a new play area, along with nature pathways, at Dove Springs District Park.  Originally built in the 1990s,  the playscape component had aged, becoming obsolete by current standards, and was identified for replacement in 2011.

This focused effort is the result of a generous grant of $250,000 awarded by St. David’s to the Austin Parks Foundation, and research efforts awarded from the National Wildlife Federation.  The innovative design is a custom-made playscape area that will help reinvigorate the community into participating in their outdoor environment. Some of the features of the play area include a constructed dry-creek that bisects the play site and includes a new ADA accessible path for the bridge crossing over the creek bed, a custom-fabricated tree-form play structure, an interactive bird’s nest feature atop a viewing hill, lawns for gathering that are equipped with picnic tables and grills and much more.