The Austin City Council approved about $13 million Thursday for designing and building the city's Mexican American Cultural Center, an idea that has been stewing for 30 years.
The council also accepted a construction donation from an Austin-based contractor for building parts of downtown's soon-to-be Town Lake Park. Council members also heard a presentation from a private firm that assessed downtown retail and proposed implementing a strategy to increase retail opportunities on Congress Avenue.
Funds approved for the MACC include a $12.7 million construction contract with California-based Solis Constructors Inc., and $220,700 added to an existing contract with CasaBella Architects and Del Campo & Maru Architects for architectural and engineering services.
The city, which has been ranked as the No. 1 place for Hispanics to live and has a population that is one-third Hispanic, lacks a central place for Hispanic culture.
In the mid to late 1970s, a group of Mexican-American artists, students and community members decided Austin need a cultural center. Paul Medrano, a project manager with the city's public works department, said the city didn't have the funding for the MACC until the idea was approved in the 1998 bond election for $11 million. Additional funding, to reach the construction amount, came from the 1999-2000 Parks and Recreation Department budget, he said.
The MACC's groundbreaking ceremony will be sometime next month, and the project should take about a year to complete. According to the proposal, the MACC will preserve, present and promote Mexican American cultural arts and heritage.
"This is good for the Mexican American community, because it will give them a place to showcase their culture," said Medrano, who has been working on this project for six years.
City council unanimously approved the MACC contract and received a room-full of cheers and applause.
Continuing downtown-related items, the council accepted an offer from Ranger Excavating to construct the observation hill and water quality pond proposed in the Town Lake Park Master Plan. Company representatives said the donation was worth about $500,000.
Financing and constructing Town Lake Park was also approved in the 1998 bond election with the MACC, and city council approved the master plan in 1999. The proposed park, which should be finished by spring 2007, is about 54 acres and is estimated to cost $8.4 million. Town Lake Park will replace the Auditorium Shores area.
"This donation gets Austin closer to a great urban park that will compliment the mixed-use densification of downtown," Austin Mayor Will Wynn said.
Downtown Works' presentation to the council addressed the need for additional downtown retail. Midge McCauley of Downtown Works told council members that her company will recruit retailers that appeal to downtown residents, which she said is mostly made up of a young group, under 30 years of age.
The downtown area of Congress Avenue, McCauley said, lacks a desirable mix of retail and non-retail. Downtown Works made filling vacancies a priority in its plan to add retail in that area, and the project is expected to take about two to three years before there are noticeable results.
Michael Knox, of the city's Economic Growth and Redevelopment Services office, said he thinks the MACC and Town Lake Park construction approvals, in addition to the recommendations made during the retail development presentation, will be helpful for downtown expansion.
"They all work together for the benefit of downtown," he said.
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