Work begins for a kids nature playscape in Brackenridge Park

• It's also the first major project that Chris Maitre, the new CEO at the Brackenridge Park Conservancy, will oversee.

What they're saying: The playscape will fill an underused space and be geared toward "a population that we're really underserving, which is the youth of San Antonio," Maitre tells Axios.

• The new development guidelines "are really about making sure that future projects really do no harm, that we're considering the history, the archaeological presence, the memories that people have made."

Catch up quick: The 2017 bond work has yet to begin, but new development in the park, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, remains high-profile.

• The bond project involves plans to cut down trees (now fewer than 50) to repair historic river walls, built by the Works Progress Administration, near the Pump House at Lambert Beach.
• The pushback led to new development guidelines focused on respect for people and nature; history and culture; and compromise. They act as a rubric for evaluating new projects.

Zoom in: The playscape is planned for an open 2-acre site south of the Lambert Beach Softball Field and across the San Antonio River from Joske Pavilion.

• The idea is to allow kids to explore and play in nature alongside water elements or treelike climbing equipment.
• It's not going to be a "catalog-ordered playground," Maitre says.

The park conservancy does not have a design yet. Two public input meetings on Wednesday were the first step.

Zoom out: The Gathering Place in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is one example of a nature-based playscape, per Maitre. It has features like a sensory garden, a land bridge and more.

• Kingsbury Commons at Pease Park in Austin also features some elements of a nature play area.

State of play: During the Wednesday meetings, kids could place green and red stickers on playscape examples to show what they did and didn't like, and draw their ideal play equipment.

• Mitzi Moore, who often goes biking and bird-watching in the park, took her 7-year-old grandson James to learn more about the playscape.
• She was disappointed that a chunk of the park was closed previously for migratory bird nesting, and is excited to have a new space for children.

• She tells Axios there should be a balance between protecting the birds and human access to the park.

Context: A new playscape would replace the currently closed Joske Pavilion playground, which the city could remove in the future.

• The city closed that playground in 2020 during the pandemic and kept it closed due to its proximity to the migratory bird nesting area, saying it caused sanitary concerns and damage to equipment.

Between the Lines: "We'll be taking that into account, to make sure we don't ever have to close this playscape," Maitre says.

By the numbers: The new playscape could cost about $6 million, per Maitre.

How it works: The conservancy plans to fundraise for private donations. But it's also looking to draw from some city money, possibly from the Midtown Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone.

What's next: There will be another public input meeting this fall, and the public could see an initial design by the end of the year.

• The playscape could open by October 2026.

The bottom line: "It's really the ideal project to test what came about through the reconciliation process," Rob Gray, principal with Hoerr Schaudt Landscape Architects on the design team, told residents Wednesday.

Editor's note: This story has been corrected to say the city (not the conservancy) could remove the Joske Pavilion playground.