Report envisions Seaholm facility as home to concerts, kayaks and more

June 04--Austin's waterfront Seaholm facility should become a multifunctional meeting space, with a coffee shop, food trucks, large yard and kayak docking, according to a recommendation commissioned jointly by the city and outdoor nonprofits.

The report, from Studio Gang, included three layouts for the former power plant on the north shore of Lady Bird Lake, and numerous renderings showing yoga classes, art shows and concerts that could happen there.

"The Waterfront's vacant Intake Building occupies an enviable position as the only building that touches both land and water along the Ann and Roy Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail," the report says. "The Intake Building was once used to pump water from the lake to cool turbines at the decommissioned Power Plant located just north of the site. ... It is poised for a revival."

The Austin Parks Foundation and the Trail Foundation announced a year ago that they would give $450,000 to hire Studio Gang, a Chicago and New York-based architectural firm with experience in park projects.

The group's recommendations center around making the street level of the intake building a space that's flexible enough for relaxed coffee drinking, periodic small events like art shows and educational events and occasional large events, like concerts.

It involves moving the hike and bike trail closer to the water's edge, from its current position near Cesar Chavez, and creating some kind of barrier between the street and the green space alongside it.

BACKGROUND: Foundations give $450,000 to study next life for Seaholm building

One concept calls for adding a large porch facing Cesar Chavez, overlooking a large yard, with trees blocking the roadway. A second would block the street with rammed earth wall segments possible to pivot and a covered pavilion for performances. Another idea would build another long building along Cesar Chavez to house amenity and service programs, with a courtyard between it and the intake building

All of the designs envision parking for food trucks and space along the water for kayaks to launch and dock.

Under the upper shell of the former intake building, the thick concrete space at the water's edge could use a passive water-cooling system to keep the upper level comfortable.

The building, built in 1951, was most recently expanded in 1955. Studio Gang suggested, on the main floor, reinstalling a 5-ton gantry crane once used for moving pumps in the lower level. It could highlight the building's past and also help with moving furniture and partitions so the building can have flexible uses, it said.

As the city and nonprofits seek funding for the project, Studio Gang suggests approaching the renovation in three stages. The first would update the building, replace the windows, cover the holes in the floor and clean it. The second would involve serving food, building the dock and putting in a design feature to block the street. The third phase would call for opening the building's façade, adding more windows and launching the basement cooling system.

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