On the heels of the closing of the Cactus Cafe
We’re still reeling from the news that the Cactus Cafe is closing, and now this: Preservation Texas announces that Austin’s entire downtown is endangered.
Fans of Vanishing Austin have long suspected this. I’ve been documenting change in Austin since arriving here in 2004 with my on-going photography series, Vanishing Austin. The announcement that an entire downtown is endangered spotlights what many long-time Austinites have long feared–that development will trump the character and soul of our city.
KVUE News reports that “Preservation Texas‘ . . . list is usually limited to specific buildings, such as the Austin Woman’s Club near downtown Austin. This year, the organization also included all of downtown Austin. They believe any historic buildings between Lady Bird Lake and Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard and from Lamar Boulevard to Interstate 35 are endangered by development.”
Who can dispute the Heritage Society of Austin‘s Mark Holleran when he offers, “Austin can lose its soul; Austin can lose the things that make it special”? ♣
Even though I have great respect for the Heritage Society of Austin, and appreciate their charter, I must remind folks that simply allowing ourselves to reject change because of some esoteric feelings about our beloved Austin is what got us into the current situation that Austin finds itself in today. For those of you who were fortunate to live in this wonderful city during the mid 70s, we are currently reaping the decisions or should I say the lack of decisions in today Austin.
thanks for making an excellent point about planning for the kind of Austin we want to live in. isn’t it more about our quality of life here, than about money?? I hope?