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Sorry to say I told you so, but Butler Shores was a clear nonstarter from the get-go. As was entirely predictable, the ZNA, BCNA, BHNA and numerous others vehemently opposed the site â though Iâll admit I was surprised by just how vehemently they opposed it. Talk on the ZNA listserv got to the point of suggesting a citizensâ revolt on par with SOS 25 years ago!
Anyway, PSV clearly took the hint, and Iâm guessing they freaked out a few days ago when Ann Kitchen announced she would be introducing a resolution to take all city parkland, including Butler and Roy Guerrero Park, off the table from stadium consideration at the next Council meeting. (And while I opposed the Butler site, RGP is another story.)
Iâm still concerned about doing a deal with the Columbus Crew, period, given PSVâs sketchy tactics. Itâs entirely possible a move to Austin was a red herring all along, and they were floating the idea solely to convince Columbus to invest in a new stadium for them.
I just really found it typical the hysteria around something without waiting for any details. I maintain that there are ways that Butler Park could have been an awesome spot for a stadium. There are also ways in which it could have been a total disaster. But per usual the emotion of it all prevailed.
I certainly agree the level of hysteria over the whole to-do was over the top (but OTOH that wasnât unexpected - this is Austin, after all), but come on now with this âwithout waiting for any detailsâ stuff! We had all of the following factual details about the plan:
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PSV is considering relocating its Columbus MLS franchise to Austin, and its top choice for a potential stadium site â from day one â was Butler Shores, a 15-acre park situated on Lady Bird Lake.
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PSV explicitly stated as much to Mayor Adlerâs office, and last summer he asked the mayor pro tem to formally look into possibly using either the Butler site or any of about a dozen others as potential stadium locations.
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The myriad problems with using the Butler site include, but arenât limited to, an inherent lack of accessibility that would be impossible to fix in the short term, if ever; its immediate proximity to several thousand condos and apartments, and all the related issues the residents of said units would have to endure living next door to the site if a stadium was built; the reality that Austin has a finite amount of parkland - especially along Lady Bird Lake - and badly needs to maintain as much of its existing green space as possible, considering Austinâs expected population growth from 1.4M in 2010 to 2.4M in 2030; a nearly 70-year history of the siteâs current use as Little League fields; its immediate proximity to Zach Scott Theatre, and all the problems that would entail as well; and the addition of yet another high-traffic venue in a part of town thatâs already bursting at the seams with them (e.g. ACL, Trail of Lights, etc.)
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A series of site renderings, provided by PSV, that showed an outsized stadium on top of a comparatively tiny parcel; a below-grade structural plan for which PSV clearly failed to consult with any structural engineering firms with experience building developments immediately adjacent to large bodies of water, otherwise they wouldâve known about the near-impossibility of constructing anything next to a lake without the extremely costly assistance of the Army Corps of Engineers, not to mention a years-long process of environmental impact studies (EISs); a complete failure to take into account the potential effects of said environmental impacts (in particular the strong possibility that any of them couldâve readily prevented the stadium from being built), despite the siteâs proximity to two federally protected wildlife habitats (Barton Springs and the Congress Ave. bridge); and impossible-to-contain light pollution that wouldâve permanently, and deleteriously, affected Austinâs skyline (this in a city where it is literally illegal to build downtown towers that obscure views of the Texas Capitol).
And so forth. Note that this list doesnât include either (nonfactual) philosophical issues (e.g. the question of whether the city should be simply giving away public parkland to private developers in the first place) or specific access-related concerns (e.g. zero on-site parking and currently substandard public transit links to the site, considering both could very well be nonissues 10-15 years from now once autonomous vehicles are commonplace and Austin could finally have a light rail system in place).
Also, to be fair, I happen to agree with PSV and stadium advocates that Butler Shores is prime real estate thatâs currently underutilized â though this does not mean plopping a stadium onto it is a good, let alone ideal, way to rectify the issue â as well as some of the arguments posited here that itâd be great to have a major-league stadium within walking distance of Zilker. Still, Iâm hard-pressed to think of even a single detail not yet known that wouldâve somehow altered the above calculus in any real way. Can you, JP?
That soccer stadium was DOA. Not even worth consideration. Not even good theater really.
However, the American-Statesman property should be turned into an MLB stadium. Texas no longer even has a National League team since they moved the Astros into the American League where they could win. Now itâs time for the Austin Bats! Imagine the cool merchandising for that one. I canât wait to go see the Dodgers, Giants, Cardinals and Cubs right here in South Austin!
I would support that! Any major league team in the urban core where people can walk to games is golden in my book!
Hey, I have no problem with a soccer stadium in Guerrero Park, but as has been the case with many out-of-town bigwigs before him, he failed to grasp the unique dynamics of the Austin market. As a direct result of him insisting on the DOA Butler Shores Plan for so long, he lost any goodwill he mightâve had among Austinites, and quite possibly killed his chances of getting a stadium on any city-owned land, now that everyoneâs still riled up about his Plan A.
Btw if youâre wondering what I mean by âunique dynamics,â other examples would include Starbucks having only one location in the entire 78704 ZIP code until recently (and it instead having at least a dozen indie coffeehouses), and Austin being one of the very few markets where In-N-Out has largely been a bust, thanks to the double-whammy of P. Terryâs and Whataburger.
That may be so. But, the capacity for us to shoot ourselves in the foot over and over again in this neighborhood is still confounding. There wasnât even an offer on the table and we killed that unborn idea before its first breath. As I said repeatedly to a mob of pearl clutching NIMBYs, there are many ways this could be bad, but there are also ways it could be good. Instead of running to the car port (notice I didnât say garage) to grab the pitch forks and torches, why not hear them out?
Instead, in true NIMBY fashion, we let blind fear and emotion rule to roost.
JP, Iâd just assume not rehash this argument any further â youâre not only beating a dead horse, but one thatâs halfway dessicated into dust at this point â but this isnât something you can realistically pin on either NIMBYism or intra-Zilker issues. There was widespread opposition to the Butler Shores site throughout Central Austin â including many, if not most, urbanists I know.
Youâre also inaccurately assuming Precourt couldâve magically come up with some sort of too-good-to-resist offer that wouldâve swayed public opinion in their favor. I think thereâs zero chance that wouldâve happened, under any scenario, and also that Precourt had ample opportunity to present one before the idea was shot down. They did not: instead, they simply released renderings of the site that merely worsened their case.
Finally, instead of a charm offensive, they decided to be assholes about it from the get-go by strongly suggesting that Butler Shores was the only site theyâd consider, and that theyâd pack up their toys and go home if they didnât get it. THAT is what I mean by failing to understand Austinâs cultural dynamics, which for the most part are broadly anti-corporate â and this has been the case for over 30 years now, ever since the days Gary Bradley tried to build a massive subdivision on top of the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone, in an area that wouldâve put Barton Springs at legitimate environmental risk. Thatâs also entirely Precourtâs own fault, from failing to perform any sort of due diligence on the market they want to enter.
Anyway, since I hope you still support an MLS franchise moving here even if itâs in a location not within walking distance â though itâs certainly within biking distance, assuming the city further improves the hike-and-bike trail east of the interstate â Iâd suggest focusing your efforts on preventing overly zealous locals from smothering the Guerrero Park site as a potentiality. Ironically, this is not only not an example of NIMBYism; the residents of the surrounding area broadly support the idea! Instead, this is proving to be a great example of (predominantly Anglo) Central & West Austin activists trying, yet again, to impose their will on Austinâs Hispanic community.
P.S. If youâd like to talk about bona fide instances of NIMBYs allowing blind fear and emotion to rule the roost, we could start with the most recent draft of CodeNEXT, which AFAIK has zero support among Austinâs old-line NAs (including the ZNA) despite it giving them nearly all of the changes they requested. Community Not Commodity declared it âunsalvageableâ even before they had time to read the thing! Fortunately they, too, appear to have overplayed their hand with their âCodeNEXT wrecks Austinâ antics, and are apparently scrambling to collect enough signatures in opposition to it prior to the deadline for getting it onto the November ballot. (Rumor has it that a certain well-known Zilker mainstay with whom I share a first name has been repeatedly thrown off the premises of various governmental facilities for attempting to collect signatures in violation of city regulations prohibiting such activities. But Iâm not one to gossip!)