Perry Park and Friends of Perry Park

Perry Park is located at 4900 Fairview Drive, Austin, Texas

Perry Park Photo Album - click on a picture to enlarge it

Perry Park Description

Friends of Perry Park

What is going on at Perry Park (improvements) - includes list of recent changes

Perry Park Articles - history page

PERRY PARK: Perry Playground Park is the only official City of Austin park within the HPWBANA boundaries.  It is next to Highland Park Elementary so is used frequently by children in the area but is often enjoyed by adults and their pets.  It is used by the neighborhood association and PTA for various events.

The park contains:
two large areas with playground equipment
a soccer field and baseball field
a kid size soccer field
a running track (appr 2 1/4 figure 8 loops per mile)
a large natural wooded area with trails
two tennis courts with lights  (activated by switch on pole outside the courts, on a timer)
a basketball hoop
picnic tables and drinking fountains
a pavilion for gatherings
natural geological aspects (it was once a quarry and is part of the Balcones fault line)

It is maintained by the City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department with help from Highland Park Elementary.  Many of the improvements over the years were initiated, funded and coordinated by interested residents.  Major improvements that resulted from resident involvement and contributions include resurfacing the tennis court and installation of the running trail and an irrigation system.  Much of the playground equipment was donated by the school's PTA.  This is significant because the playground area has many amenities that are not typically found at AISD schools.   Some improvements were the results of hard work by local Eagle Scout candidates.  These include development and marking of the natural trails, installation of picnic tables, and planting of some of the trees. 

Access: The parking lot for Perry Playground Park is behind Highland Park Elementary School, on 4900 Fairview Dr. (Note: This area of Fairview Dr is a one way going south due to child safety concerns.)

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Friends of Perry Park (FoPP)

Who We Are: Friends of Perry Park is a collaborative effort between the community and organizations in the overall preservation and improvement of Perry Park.  Perry Park is a local park in the Highland Park West Balcones Area of Austin, Texas that is adjacent to Highland Park Elementary.  FoPP focuses on both the PARD and AISD areas of the park.  There is a lot of community interest in the park and FoPP provides a platform to discuss and implement improvements.

Involvement includes the following groups:

 Highland Park West Balcones Area Neighborhood Association
Highland Park Elementary (AISD)
Highland Park Elementary PTA
Interested Residents and Businesses
City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department

Mission: Improve the overall safety, usability and quality of Perry Park through community involvement and feedback from residents, the school and PARD.  Our goal is to make Perry Park a great neighborhood park.

Friends of Perry Park Committees:  Committees exist to address specific areas of the park.  Contact the committee for information, to suggest an idea or to help out. Committees will access talent, interest and expertise in the community to help with improvements.

Tennis Courts - Coach Dave Woods, contact
Running Track - Wes Amborboy, contact, Kevin Golliher, contact
Wooded Areas - Nadene Morning, contact
Quarry and Playground - Coach Woods, contact
School Grounds Landscaping - Sean Compton,  contact

 FoPP Committee Activities

Note 1.  Review and approval of projects by either PARD and/or AISD is required before implementation.
Note 2. This is only a list of ideas, not all have been discussed.

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What is going on at Perry Park (improvements and changes)

Sandbox:

HPWBANA Board Members took on the project of repairing the sandbox at Perry Park and upgrading it to a discovery sandbox.  Dinosaur shapes were attached under the sand so kids can do a dinosaur dig right in their neighborhood park..

Tennis Courts:

The tennis courts were updated with new windscreens and benches in the 2005 timeframe.  A more recent improvement involved repairing the tennis court entryway with new pavers and putting in a stone pathway (an Eagle Scout project).  PARD plans on resurfacing the courts in the next few years. 

The current activity involves installing sun shelters over the two benches in the tennis courts area.   A significant grant from Austin Parks Foundation will make the three year old dream a reality!  The shelters should be installed late Nov or Dec.

Perry Park entrance near the tennis courts: 

The park entrance near the tennis courts is the current focus for activity.  Large shrubs were planted this spring and a life scout will soon install a stone pathway so children and others don't have to walk through mud and dirt.  Last fall large boulders replaced old wooden pylons and the new trees, shrubs and pathway will soften the overall entrance welcoming visitors to the park.

Tree Planting: 

A large scale tree planting was completed in the spring of 2007 at Perry Park.  The trees were provided by PARD as part of their tree replacement program and Perry Park was fortunate to have made the list.   The HPWBANA and HP PTA worked with PARD to identify where the trees were planted and the type.  Areas include the park entrance, the quarry area, the fence near the soccer field and the sidewalk area on the Balcones side of the park.   The tree holes were pre-hug by PARD.  Treefolks helped provide volunteers, planting instruction and materials.

Running Track: 

The Perry Park running track had serious erosion problems and it's permanent repair was the focus of the HP PTA during the fall of 2006. The PTA formed a Track Committee specifically for this project with Wes Amberboy leading the effort.  The repair was completed in the winter of 2007.  This was a large, expensive project and many people and groups worked together to make it happen.

Background: The rock surfaced running track at Perry Park was installed in the mid 1990 by the AISD with funds from the Highland Park PTA.  Most of the track is on PARD property and PARD gave permission to allow the track installation with the understanding that all maintenance and repair would be the responsibility of the AISD or the Highland Park PTA.  The running track is used heavily by the school for exercise classes. 

Nature Trail through the woods:

The trail through the wooded area of the park which includes a nature trail was put in years ago with the help of Highland Park Elementary teachers, cub scouts and the community.  Over the years it has been difficult to maintain so there has been recent activity to restore the trail system.  In the fall of 2005 when volunteers cleared overgrowth from existing trails and put down mulch. 

More recently, in Dec 2006, Pack 59 Cub Scouts really updated the trails by adding crushed granite to the surface.  This was hard, hard work and it made a huge difference.  The trail system now has a very groomed look and comes complete with native plant markers.

Benches:

Perry Park has four new park benches thanks to HPWBANA and Austin Parks Foundation.   Volunteers helped build the platforms and PARD installed the benches in the spring of 2006.   This is in addition to five other benches that have been installed over the last several months.  Here is a summary:

• Two benches were installed in the hobby playground area in late 2005.
• Two benches were installed inside the tennis courts in 2005.
• A bench near the pavilion playscape was installed early 2006.
• HPWBANA and APF funded 4 benches for the quarry and woods area in 2006.

Playscape near upper Soccer Field - Hobby Playground on AISD property:

Recent changes: The Hobby Playground has a new outdoor fitness center. The fitness area includes a climbing wall, three-level chin up bars and overhead bars that replaced the equipment removed earlier in the 2005 school year by AISD.   The fitness center was dedicated to Kristin Shelton and funded by a generous gift by her parents to the Highland Park physical education department.

Non-native plant removal:

There have been five large passes of non-native plant removal at Perry Park since early 2005.  Huge amounts of ligustrum, bamboo, vines and dead  wood were removed from the wooded area of the park and the park is much more open and groomed.  Native plants are growing and sprouting up throughout the park.

Old Bamboo Area behind the woods:

We are attempting to eradicate the bamboo grove behind the wooded area by continually cutting back new growth.  The entire bamboo grove was cut to the ground during the January 2005 workday (including bamboo in back yards) and is monitored by neighbors for growth.  It is cut back regularly.   This bamboo grove at one time was very large and began taking over the wooded area.  The bamboo stumps have been removed and new growth of native plants has already started to fill the area.  Our technique seems to have worked.

Upper Soccer Field - on AISD property:

The HPE PTA is currently looking at this field to improve the grass conditions along with reviewing the sprinkler system.

Old ragweed area near quarry soccer field:

Ragweed in the large area near the large soccer field in the quarry was pulled up and removed.   Ragweed and weeds will continue to be removed until the area fills in with Bermuda grass and native plants.  This area is prone to flooding so planting is difficult. 

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Last updated on 10/06/2007