When the City of Austin asked people what would bring them to Eilers Neighborhood Park more often, the most popular answer was a trail extension to Red Bud Isle, a path that would lead beyond the park's boundary. Parking came second. None of the top three answers was a new feature inside the park. That pattern runs through the whole first round of input on the redesign of the 8-acre park around Deep Eddy Pool. If you use this park, the plan forming this fall looks set to focus on getting to the park, through it and down to the lake.
The park being redrawn, and the parts left out
Austin Parks and Recreation started concept planning this summer for Eilers (Deep Eddy) Neighborhood Park at 401 Deep Eddy Avenue on Lady Bird Lake. The site today has a playground renovated in 2018 with shade structures, a small picnic area, a dock, a community garden, a trailhead into the Eilers (Deep Eddy) Neighborhood Park Trail, and a dense canopy of mature trees along the riverbank.
The pool sits inside the park boundary, but the plan leaves it out. The City's project page says Deep Eddy Pool, its bathhouse and the EMS building are all outside the scope. That leaves the land around the pool. The City bought most of it from A.J. Eilers in 1935, and the following year a WPA-funded bathhouse went up to serve the pool.
RVI Planning + Landscape Architecture is the consultant, with a $110,000 budget for site analysis, concept development, mapping and cost estimates. The neighborhood is paying part of that. Friends of Deep Eddy put in $36,000 for the site and context analysis phase, and the City's general fund covers the rest.
What Round 1 asked, and who answered
The first engagement round, called "Discover Eilers," ran in late summer. The City held pop-ups at the Deep Eddy Pool entrance on August 15 and at Johnson Trailhead on August 22 and 27. The online survey closed September 14. Two small-group conversations followed: one with nearby businesses on September 22 and one at the community garden on September 23. Recordings of both are linked from the project page.
The results are visible on the closed survey page on PublicInput. The questions covered here drew between 56 and 73 responses each, and the survey's opening questions about visits drew as many as 84. That's a small group of park users, far short of a citywide poll. It's still the clearest record so far of what people who show up at Deep Eddy want from the land around the pool.
The top answers all lead out of the park
Respondents could pick up to four improvements that would make them visit more often. Here's how the options ranked:
| Improvement | Share of respondents |
|---|---|
| Trail extension to Red Bud Isle | 64% |
| Easier or more parking options | 56% |
| Improved walking paths or trail connectivity | 41% |
| More shade options | 39% |
| Better connectivity to the lake | 34% |
| Drinking fountain with pet bowl | 23% |
| Exercise equipment | 14% |
| More areas for open play | 13% |
Four of the top five are about movement: a longer trail, a place to leave the car, better paths, a way down to the water. Shade is the only one in that group that would mainly change the park itself. Features that add things to do inside the park, like exercise stations and open play areas, came in near the bottom at 14% and 13%.
The City had already raised the Red Bud Isle idea in general terms. Among the plan's stated objectives are "future trail extension opportunities west of the park," pulled from the department's long-range plan, Our Parks, Our Future. The survey put a name and a number on it. For now, the City lists the extension as an opportunity the plan will evaluate.
At the lake, people mostly want to sit and look
You might expect a park with a dock on Lady Bird Lake to draw a strong push for kayak and canoe launches. The City did list "river access for safe recreation including kayaks and canoes" as something to explore. The survey answers were mixed. Asked how important lake access from the park is, 25% said very important, 39% said somewhat important and 38% said not important, as the survey page shows them. Those three shares total 102%, so they don't line up exactly as one response breakdown.
The lake improvements people did choose were mostly about the shoreline:
- Seating or viewing near the lake: 69%
- Shoreline and riverbank restoration: 61%
- Defined access to the dock from existing pathways: 42%
- Better signage: 15%
Right now you reach the wooden dock by limestone steps that lead down from the park lawn. A defined path to it, the most practical access fix on the list, drew 42%. A bench with a view of the lake drew 69%. This group wants the lake edge to be easier to reach and nicer to spend time at. A paddling hub is lower on the list.
The parking lot is shared with more than the pool
The parking answers were the most lopsided in the survey. Of the respondents who had run into traffic or parking trouble around the park, 84% said the lot is often full. Close to half named difficult circulation getting in and out (46%) and people parking in the lot to go somewhere other than the park or pool (43%).
The City's survey notes that the lot in front of the Deep Eddy entrance is the main parking for visitors, with overflow parking west of the paved lot. Public comments on the survey pointed to timing. Several commenters said the lot is busiest during peak hours for the neighborhood's popular spots nearby. Another described the crunch as "anytime after 10 a.m. from April to September," and someone else said it usually eases once school starts again.
For fixes, respondents ranked:
- Better circulation routes, 50%
- Expanded bike parking to encourage biking to the site, 45%
- An additional exit to Veterans Drive, 41%
- Designated drop-off zones, 34%
- Paid parking, 29%
Paid parking came last. A second exit to Veterans Drive and more bike racks both drew more support. That fits with the Red Bud Isle result. When the lot fills up, many of these respondents would rather have more ways to reach the park than make the existing spaces cost money.
What the pool is doing while the park plan moves forward
The pool isn't part of the plan, but you'll still go through its entrance to get to the park, so its calendar matters this month. The City's posted Deep Eddy schedule covers March 14 through October 31, 2026. It lists lap swim from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., recreational swim from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and a Tuesday closure for cleaning that started April 21. The Austin American-Statesman reported the same weekly schedule through October 31 when it covered the pool in June.
As of October 12, the City hasn't posted hours for after October 31. The City lists Deep Eddy among its year-round pools and says aquatic facilities close when the air temperature on the pool deck is at or below 32 degrees and reopen once it rises above that. Until November hours appear, the Deep Eddy Pool page is the place to check before heading over for an early swim. The pool is still filled each day with untreated aquifer water, and staff open it as close to 8 a.m. as the fill allows.
Round 2 is next, and it will show two designs
The City's anticipated schedule puts most of the remaining work in this fall and winter:
- Fall: preliminary concepts are developed.
- Round 2, "Explore the Options": the City shares Round 1 results and asks people to choose between two preliminary concept plans.
- Fall: a draft concept plan is prepared.
- Round 3, "Confirm the Vision": the City checks the draft against what it heard in the first two rounds.
- Winter: final concept and summary.
No date has been set for Round 2 yet. The City says engagement will include online surveys, pop-ups in and around the park, small group conversations, flyers, mailers, email updates and social media, with summaries of each round posted to the project page. The finished product will be a concept plan with phased recommendations and estimated costs. It isn't a construction schedule.
When the two designs come out, check how each one handles a Red Bud Isle trail connection, the Veterans Drive exit, a path to the dock and lakeside seating. Those were the top choices in Round 1. You can sign up for email updates through the City's PublicInput signup, and Gregory Montes, the project manager, is listed on the project page as the contact at 512-974-9458.
At Austin Home Girls Realty, we'll be following Round 2 as the two Eilers Park concepts come out, especially the trail and parking pieces that Deep Eddy neighbors ranked highest. If you'd like to talk through what the plan could mean for your corner of Deep Eddy or Old West Austin, reach out to Renny directly. We're always happy to talk about this neighborhood. Find Your Austin Home.
