City of Wimberley and Design Workshop to host Charrette for the Blue Hole Regional Park Project

01 Oct 2009

Wimberley, TX – The City of Wimberley has embarked on an immensely important process that will result in the creation of Blue Hole Regional Park. In July, the City hired the Austin, Texas office of Design Workshop, a landscape architecture firm with seven offices in the US, to design the new park. The acquisition of 126 acres surrounding the historic Blue Hole on Cypress Creek was instigated by the City to protect and preserve this natural treasure while developing recreational opportunities for the community and future generations. In 2007, twenty-six community stakeholders along with Friends of the Blue Hole worked to produce the Blue Hole Regional Park Master Plan, facilitated by Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. The 2007 conceptual plan envisions tennis courts, soccer fields, volleyball courts, restroom facilities, bathhouse/office, pavilions, pedestrian areas, playground, picnic areas, trails, primitive camping, amphitheater, environmental and ecological restoration and a natural Blue Hole swimming area.

In order to add value and design content to the 2007 concept master plan, the City of Wimberley and Design Workshop will hold a two day collaborative charrette on October 9-10th. A charrette is an intense, on-site, work session with the community, stakeholders, City and design team. The charrette workshop will accelerate the design process by creating an interactive environment with all major participants working together without the normal interruptions that delay communications. It will also provide an opportunity to achieve consensus on the worthiest approach to the project. Experience has demonstrated that a workshop oriented design process is the most effective and efficient means of providing the community with a specific work product quickly and comprehensively. Throughout the two days, three meetings are open to the public in order to encourage community involvement and feedback. During the Blue Hole charrette, these meetings will take place as follows:

• Stakeholder Meeting
  (Open to the public)
  October 9, 2009
  4pm-6pm
  Former First Baptist Church, 501 Old Kyle Road, Wimberley

• Coffee Talk - Park Best Practices
  (Open to the public)
  October 10, 2009
  8am-10am
  Former First Baptist Church, 501 Old Kyle Road, Wimberley

• Open House
  (Open to the public)
  October 10, 2009
  4pm-6pm
  Former First Baptist Church, 501 Old Kyle Road, Wimberley

Ensuring broad community support, the Blue Hole Regional Park must balance usage demands with protection and restoration of the natural landscape, maintain the historic character of the Blue Hole (prevent its urbanization), and create synergy among park activities that link the park to the surrounding region. The 2007 concept master plan clearly defined goals and objectives as directed from the Stakeholders, Friends of the Blue Hole and the City. Arranging and organizing the park improvements, in a way that is environmentally sensitive and works efficiently for the community, is the key challenge of this next step of the process.

Design Workshop's unparalleled experience in recreation-based tourism communities throughout the US will bring the expertise needed to manage these competing objectives. “The Blue Hole Regional Park will allow for the property to be used in a multi-functional way while protecting the treasured resource of the Blue Hole, one of the last great swimming holes in Central Texas” says Steven Spears, Project Manager and Principal of Design Workshop Austin.