Downtown

July 2001

• Austin Resource Center for the Homeless (ARCH)
  The City currently has a lease for ARCH at 701 W. Fifth Street. That lease will end in July of 2001. Since the permanent downtown shelter, resource center, and health clinic has not been completed yet, ARCH will move to an interim location at 400 Nueces.

  Under the auspices of the Community Action Network (CAN), the City and County contract with the Capital Area Homeless Alliance (CAHA) to provide day resource center services through the ARCH. Once the program moves to 400 Nueces, an overnight shelter program for 73 men will begin operating at the facility. CAHA will also operate the overnight shelter under a contract with the City.

• Convention Center Expansion
  The exterior skin is going up and glazing will start next month. The multi-colored metal panels now up on the exterior are a substrate for the metal shingles that will match the existing building. Value engineering analysis showed that the metal substrate was actually less expensive than plywood.

  The 66" Water Main Relocation is complete and Fifth Street is open! This was a major milestone and we are as glad as anybody to have this part of the work done and no longer having a traffic impact. Minor paving and repairs are still in progress.

  Permanent power to the Expansion will be in place by mid-August. Austin Energy will move the temporary chillers serving the Hobby Building to the Convention Center so that 500 tons of chilled water will be available for start of finishout in September. Austin Energy will eventually supply 1800 tons of chilled water service from the Hobby Garage to the Expansion. The abandoned portion of the 66" water main that is now under the expansion will be used as a sleeve by Austin Energy to bring the chilled water lines in from Hobby and connect to a future District Plant that will provide backup service.

  All of the air-handlers have been set. The 200,000 square feet of new roof is about 60% complete. Interior partitions are about 50% complete. Many of these partitions are air entrained concrete block, a relatively new product that is making its way into the construction industry. The blocks are solid and the pathways for utilities like electrical conduits are routed out of the surface. It's an interesting installation to see.

  All of the stairways are complete. The freight elevator is in place and the escalators arrived this week. As soon as the building is dried-in, and temporary chilled water is in service, we will begin the interior finishes, most of which occur on the third level in the ballrooms and meeting rooms. The existing facility will be taken out of service for the entire month of September so that renovation work and tie-ins to the new building can occur. The north wall separating the two buildings will also come down during September and a dust partition will be installed.

• Downtown Development Initiatives
  Heritage Austin: Heritage Austin is a program of the Heritage Society of Austin. In late April, the Heritage Society delivered a final draft of their report Heritage Austin: A Community Value Based Vision to the City of Austin in late April. City staff have reviewed the document, and are making arrangements with the Heritage Society for printing.

• Downtown Shelter, Resource Center, and Health Clinic
  The concept of the Center remains intact, but other aspects have changed. First, the project is no longer called "The Seventh Street Hope Center." Its working name is the "Downtown Shelter, Resource Center, and Health Clinic." Second, the City had been working with The Salvation Army to build the facility. In November of 2000, however, the City Council decided to move forward on the project without the involvement of the Salvation Army. The City Council approved the purchase of the property located at the corner of Seventh Street and Neches Street. Now, the City will build the facility and will provide funding for operations. The City of Austin's Primary Care Department will operate the health clinic. A request for proposals will be released to solicit an operator for the shelter and day resource center.

  Final project designs are anticipated in August of 2001. The construction of the project will be put out for bid in January of 2002. The expected date of completion for the facility is July of 2003.

• Mexican American Cultural Center
  Design of Phase I of the Master Plan started in May 2001.

• New City Hall & Public Plaza
  Council approved a Concept Design for the New City Hall and Public Plaza in February 2001. Schematic Design was presented to Council in April 2001, with design approval scheduled for May 2001. Construction of the underground parking garage began in April 2001.

• Seaholm Power Plant Reuse
  The City has 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.

• Waller Creek Trail and Park Improvements
  All kiosk signs and masonry facades were completed by the end of April, except for the one at the Cesar Chavez bridge, which is contingent on the installation of the bridge.

Back to the July 2001 Downtown Report