The Aquatic Division of the Austin Parks and Recreation Department put out its 2015 City of Austin Pool Schedule and June 8 is the official opening day for Rosedale’s Ramsey Pool. The document lists opening dates and times for pools all over the city. They maintain a web page linking to individual schedules for each city pool and aquatic facility, including one for Ramsey Pool. Weather, equipment, personnel, or other issues can always preempt opening of the pool on any given day, but it’s a good sign to have an official date. The city also reminds us that there are still lifeguard positions available and encourage anyone interested to contact them.

The Aquatic Division and Austin Parks Foundation have partnered to offer the first ever Lifeguard Hiring Incentive program. Over 750 lifeguards need to be hired for the summer season in order to safely operate Austin’s municipal pools. The goal of this partnership is to provide an incentive for the first 500 lifeguards that are hired, trained and work the first week of the summer swim season. The incentive is a $100 bonus that will be paid to lifeguard employees in the form of Continue reading →

Once again the city of Austin is gearing up for the coming swim season by recruiting lifeguards for the 50 or so aquatic facilities around town. In the past, the lack of enough lifeguards forced the city to delay openings and miss swim days. They continue to hone their recruiting program for the more than 750 lifeguards needed. The city is working to have enough qualified staff to help ensure reliable pool availability. The city’s “Get Hired, Get Trained, Get Working” page provides Continue reading →

More than two dozen people turned out and pitched in to make the city-wide 2015 “It’s my Park Day” a tremendous success here in the hood. On Saturday, to help out the turf and trees in Ramsey Park, volunteers toiled for hours to make mountains of compost and truckloads of shredded bark disappear. The current rain and coming warm weather  should help green up the park. A huge thanks to all who gave generously of their time and energy to help improve this jewel of the Rosedale neighborhood (some pictured here).

Scott Burton lead this project to great success on behalf of the Rosedale Neighborhood Association. Below are details from Scott about what was applied, how much and by whom (and Scott’s personal thanks): Continue reading →

Austin’s Mayor and other dignitaries are coming to Rosedale on March 7th for an official ribbon cutting to mark the recent improvements to Ramsey Park. The actual cutting is planned for 1:30pm but the event will run from 1pm to 3pm with music, face painting, and refreshments. Residents of Rosedale and other fans of the park are encouraged to come and show support for the park and the work done to reach this momentous occasion. March 7th is also “It’s My Park Day” with volunteer work going on in parks around the city, including a project starting at 9am to work on the baseball field at the north end of Ramsey Park.

Dear neighbors,

It’s exciting to see the progress on the playscape.  After some rain and cold delays, things are moving quickly.  The playscape installation should be finished this week along with the rest of the concrete work on the sidewalks. The playscape fall material should Continue reading →

Dear Neighbors,

If you haven’t been out to Ramsey Park lately, I encourage you to visit this weekend. The transformation is really coming together. Some paths are open, the basketball court shade is back up, and the play structures are beginning to rise. Over the next few weeks it will be very exciting to see Phases II and III finish.

The park committee met with PARD on Monday and we are on track to complete Phases II and III by Continue reading →

Join your neighbors as we gather to celebrate our successful efforts to renovate Ramsey Park and hopefully close the remaining fundraising gap!

The party is Sunday, Nov. 9th at 4 PM with food and drink provided by Upper Crust Bakery, Fork & Taco,  Stinson’s Bistro, Pinthouse Pizza, Snap Kitchen, Tiny Pies, Chez Zee, Rosedale Neighborhood Association and others — hosted in the backyard of Charlotte’s Fiesta Flowers, 4404 Burnet Rd, just a half-block north of Ramsey Park.

Continue reading →

It’s been said that good fences make good neighbors. When it comes to Ramsey Park, good fences are a sign of exciting things to come as construction on Phases II and III gets kicked off. Tree protection and other prep measures that have been put in place are needed for laying the new pathways and  installation of the new playscapes.

Please be aware that for the most part the Continue reading →

Big monoliths arranged in circles mean different things to different people. Back in 2,500 BCE, it may have been as close to an Apple Watch as one could get. Today in Rosedale these stones represent another step forward for the Ramsey Park improvement work. A part of Phase I of the master plan, the limestone amphitheater provides blocks to sit on or lean back on.

Most of the blocks are arranged to Continue reading →