Seaholm Power Plant Reuse

Summary

The Seaholm Power Plant sits on an eight-acre site on the north shore of Town Lake. The plant no longer generates power for the City. Private sector groups, including the R/UDAT Team and Implementation Committee, have recommended that Seaholm be adapted for civic or cultural uses. In 1996 the City Council resolved to preserve Seaholm for a major public use its after decommissioning and remediation is complete, which should be complete by the end of September 2001.

Currently the on-site remediation activities completed to date include: the removal of all equipment from the Water Intake Structure and the Pump Room. PCB decontamination of these buildings will take place later on in the schedule. Eagle Construction is 95% complete with the removal of asbestos containing material from the inside of number 5 boiler and 90% complete with removal of asbestos containing material from the inside of no. 6 boiler. Scaffolding has been erected around the number 5 and 7 stacks to facilitate abatement of lead-based paint and repainting of the stacks. Eagle Construction has completed removal of all electrical equipment and both control rooms located on the ground floor of the Turbine Generator Building and has begun removal of the turbine generators, equipment and piping from the ground floor, mezzanine and basement levels.

Status

In November 1999, City Council passed a resolution directing the City Manager "to make recommendations outlining next steps for decommissioning the Seaholm Power Plant and soliciting proposals for the reuse of the plant." In December 1999, the City hired Sherry Kafka Wagner, public attractions consultant, to help identify and execute these "next steps".

In concert with Ms. Wagner's recommendations, a City Manager's Office memo was issued in March 2000 that recommended that, prior to the City's soliciting for proposals, an urban design and redevelopment master plan be generated to guide the City in making decisions about the entire district around the power plant. This master plan will recommend: type(s) and location(s) for future visitor parking for Seaholm, an intermodal transportation network with possible light rail and intercity rail connections, and how the district and the Seaholm Reuse Project may best link and integrate the adjacent downtown and parkland areas.

In June 2000 Council authorized the hiring of ROMA Design Group to create this master plan which will make recommendations about the urban design and economic redevelopment of the area surrounding the power plant facility. This process began in August, with the development of "framework sketch concepts". A series of stakeholder work sessions have since taken place, and a second, more fleshed out concept master plan is currently in the works for stakeholder review likely sometime in November.

The City has also completed the historical documentary photography for the three Seaholm buildings that have been identified as eligible for listing on the National Historic Register: the Turbine Building, the Water Intake Structure and the Fuel Oil Building. This photography documents the plant with all its equipment in place, prior to the final demolition and remediation phase that began in July 2000. This photographic collection will be made publicly available at the Austin History Center collection later this fall.

Description

The Seaholm Power Plant, built between 1950 and 1958, faces Town Lake on West César Chávez Street. It is composed of five gas/oil generation units (100 megawatts total when it functioned) and no longer generates power. The building features a towering turbine room 110 by 235 feet, with clerestory windows above flanking aisles, and a 65-foot-high ceiling. Two lower floors contain an additional 75,000 square feet. In all, the building has more than 110,000 square feet of useable floor area. An electric utility substation, transmission and distribution facilities, and a utility microwave communications center are also located at Seaholm.

A number of planning efforts have recognized Seaholm's significance and potential for adaptive reuse. The City of Austin's 1984 Historic Resources survey targeted Seaholm for its highest priority rating of building to be preserved. The City's Town Lake Park Comprehensive Plan suggests that the plant be "converted into an activity center complementary to the area." In the fall of 1997, the R/UDAT Revisited Team reiterated its earlier support for Seaholm's cultural reuse.

Basic Data

• City Contacts: Mario A. Espinoza, Austin Energy, 322-6095
  Jana McCann, Transportation, Planning, & Sustainability Department, 974-6096
• Public-Private Partnership: Seaholm Reuse Planning Committee, Leslie Pool, chair, 346-8717

Back to April 2001 Downtown Report