Back to the Drawing Board for Zilker Garden
The garden has had its budget cut in recent years. Photo courtesy Angela de Março at flickr.com/amcclen/Austin’s Parks and Recreation Department is backing away from a plan to hire a private company to run the Zilker Botanical Gardens.
The department’s assistant director, Kimberly McNeeley, was getting ready to present a proposal to the Parks and Recreation board tonight. But it was canceled in the face of outrage from some members of the public.
“So rather than moving forward with something that doesn’t have the support of our community members, we thought it would be best to take a step back and engage the community members once again,” McNeeley said.
About 400,000 people visit the Zilker Botanical Gardens every year. But its budget has been cut by about 5 percent since 2009. McNeeley says that makes it almost impossible to do anything except basic maintenance.
