Flex Space at Parque Zaragoza

Parque Zaragoza was founded in 1931 as the first public park for the city’s Mexican-American community. Since then, the park has grown to include a thriving recreational and cultural center for East Austin’s largely Hispanic community. However, the surrounding neighborhood has also become one of the most rapidly gentrifying in Austin, Texas, and many members of the historic community are facing displacement.

Project for Public Spaces and Austin Parks Foundation are teaming up with the City of Austin’s Park and Recreation Department and the Amigos de Parque Zaragoza, a volunteer group who have successfully advocated for several park improvements in the park from the installation of shade structures around the pool and the construction of an outdoor classroom to upgrading lighting and improving bicycle and pedestrian access. Through the Project for Public Spaces’ Community Placemaking Grant, we will collaborate to transform an unattractive and unused former driveway next to the park into a safe and exciting gathering place. Austin Parks Foundation’s goal is to work with the local Hispanic community to activate the space with public programs that help to preserve and strengthen Parque Zaragoza’s customs and traditions, while also offering ways for the broader community in East Austin to learn about the area’s history and connect with one another.