Waller Creek Project Threatens Capitol View; Construction Ceases

[TexasTowelie]

Waterloo Park is in section 2 of the diagram.

The City of Austin has agreed to spend up to nearly $2 million in legal fees to rectify an oversight relating to the Waller Creek project. Upon learning that plans for a water facility currently under construction in Waterloo Park was in non-compliance with the Capitol View Corridor law, the City ceased construction and agreed to hire an outside law firm to help address the design flaw.

The construction under review is a forthcoming water intake facility that is part of the Waller Creek Tunnel project, which aims to rehabilitate the creek into a downtown amenity, a la San Antonio's Riverwalk. The facility would funnel floodwater into a large drainage tunnel beneath Sabine Street into Lady Bird Lake. This development would reduce the risk of flooding along Waller Creek and free up downtown land for future development.

The legal fees add to the cost of the already-over-budget Waller Creek project. In 1998, voters approved $25 million dollars in bond money for the project; now the estimated price tag for the project is nearly $150 million.

The Capitol View Corridor law was passed by the Texas Legislature in 1983 as the 200-foot capitol building’s dominance over the Austin skyline was threatened by other developments. In 1963 the Westgate Building, which is directly west of the Capitol, was erected at 239 feet. In 1968, Dobie Mall was constructed to 299 feet and was followed by the 298-foot One American Center at 6th and Congress in 1982. The ordinance was then adopted to establish and protect thirty remaining view corridors of the Capitol—e.g. the view from South Congress, the Lamar Bridge, the South Mall of U.T., et al.

- See more at: http://www.austinpost.org/article/waller-creek-project-threatens-capitol-view-construction-ceases#sthash.NuKud9aU.dpuf