AUSTIN, Texas — It’s been about 14 months since work began to give parts of Pease Park a major facelift, the first one in roughly a century.

The park, according to the conservancy's website, has a long history going back at least 11,000 years to early indigenous civilizations through the late 19th century when then-Governor Elisha M. Pease donated the space to the city of Austin.

On top of that, Pease Park Conservancy CEO Heath Riddles says the park has a unique natural characteristic.

"This is an incredibly diverse and unique ecological moment in the park," he said. "You know, the Shoal Creek that runs along the spine of the park, runs over the Balcones fault line, which creates this incredibly unique geological moment in the park."

The hilly area of Pease Park is unique for its hundreds of seeps and springs. It was critical, Riddles explained, to lean into the natural facets of the space during the renovations. One such consideration was the park's position in the floodplain.

“We know what's going to happen and we'll be ready for it. We did move everything out of the floodplain as much as we could just to mitigate the damage when it does happen, but also to really open up this great lawn out here,” he added.

Natural damage was one of the main reasons the conservancy was created several years ago, according to Riddles. Compacted mud and soil from erosion was changing the character of the park and that led to neighbors in the area creating the group in an effort to forge leadership for the maintenance and preservation of the park. 

Since then, 4,000 trees have been planted across the park and a 2014 vision plan was drafted to set the path forward for renovations to the park that would take place over several phases starting with the southern end and going north toward 31st Street.

A donation by the Moody Foundation laid the groundwork for the beginning renovations. Those renovations won't just include built-in preparations for natural events. 

For young people, and those young at heart, play areas will also take on a different style.

“There's one that's sort of a more traditional play area with swings and things like that. And then we have another play area that is all devoted to nature play. So, it’s loose pieces and parts, logs and boulders and bricks,” said Riddles.

The reimagined park takes seriously its new vision as a natural destination.

“Each sort of design decision that we made, it was really about weaving the infrastructure that we are creating here into that existing natural character,” said Riddles.

One of the most notable symbols of those symbiotic design goals is the so-called “Treehouse,” a structure combining a framework of steel and stone tucked away among the trees.

“We really wanted it to be about suspending people up in the canopy of trees, giving people that rare experience of being suspended in the canopy,” said Riddles.

For leaders at the conservancy, that's the bottom line: making the park a place for all Austinites.

“We lay that equity lens over every decision that we make at Pease Park Conservancy. ‘Is what we are about to do going to make this space feel more safe? More welcoming? More accessible for everyone?’” he said.

If the answer is no, then the design doesn't ever come to be.

The park is set to reopen in June, and work is set to continue for the following phases of the renovations.