Earlier – Original Park Sign installed.
2005 – Neighbors helped plant 15 trees on the north side of the park along Wooten Drive. The project was overseen by the Austin Parks Foundation (APF) and all 15 trees are still alive and thriving 20 years later!
Fall of 2010 – With funding from a grant through Texas Action for Healthy Kids, the Wooten Elementary school nurse oversaw a project to install three raised beds and a crushed granite walking trail near the school. Wooten residents helped with the effort. Also, two mutt-mitt stands were installed by the city’s Parks & Rec Department (PARD).
January 2013 – WNA President, Josh Merritt, proposes a Park Advocacy Group be formed. Laura Tomlinson and Joanne Garrett volunteer to co-chair.
March 2013 – Wooten participates in our first It’s My Park Day, sponsored by APF! We mulched the trees we planted in 2005 with free mulch provided by the City, replenished the gravel on the walking trail and painted picnic tables and park signs. APF provides grants to go towards the cost of what is needed for improvements.
August 2013 – Park benches are replaced by PARD.
November 2013 – Keep Austin Beautiful donates native plants to go in the raised pollinator beds by the school.
November 2013 – TreeFolks donates 70+ trees to be planted throughout the park! Area residents and volunteers from across the city help with the effort, and PARD agrees to water them for the next three years.
March 2014 – It’s My Park Day!
April 2014 – The Park Committee promotes a neighborhood-wide garage sale and participants donate a portion of their sales to future projects.
October 2014 – The Wooten Neighborhood Park sign, located at the corner of Dale and Burrell is replaced! At this same time, Wooten receives a “Love Your Block” grant from The Bloomberg Center in the amount of $500! With additional $263 we had in donations from neighbors (and help from Redeemer Lutheran’s grounds keeper) we landscaped the area around our new sign!
The following month, resident landscaper, Dave Golden, donated 16 knock out rose bushes and had his crew plant them along the berm. These rose bushes have been, subsequently, removed.
March 2015 – It’s My Park Day!
May 2016 – PARD repairs water fountain at the NW corner of the park and installs two “No Littering” signs at the request of the Park Committee
January 2016 – We participate in National Trails Day by cleaning up washed out gravel due to the Memorial Day floods and mulched all the trees and performed root collaring mitigation where necessary.
January 2016 – Talks begin regarding the installation of a pavilion near the playground. Park committee members, PARD, Wooten Elementary/ AISD, and Redeemer Lutheran Church representatives are in attendance.
March 2016 – It’s My Park Day!
April 2016 – PARD provides the estimated cost of the pavilion which will be paid for between various entities. The neighborhood is expected to help pay for the project.
June 2016 -Yard signs are sold for $50/each to help with our cost of the pavilion.
August 2016 – Request form and signed agreement for the pavilion is submitted to APF Funds Management.
December 2016 – The first Carols and Cocoa event is held to help raise money for the pavilion. Local businesses donated everything needed for the event.
March 2017 – It’s My Park Day!
April 2017 – Park Committee submits second grant request for pavilion since the first was awarded to another park.PARD installs signs reminding people Wooten is not an off-leash park.
June 2017 – Wooten Park Improvement Committee receives good news that we have been selected as the recipient of a grant awarded by APF to help build the pavilion! Discussions begin with PARD on next steps.
Due to efforts of the park committee, the old water fountains are replaced with dual level fountains – one near the NW corner and the other near the playground.
The walking trail near the playground is regraded and widened before crushed granite is laid.
Area previously containing just pea gravel is transformed into a sandbox by PARD, as requested by residents.
July 2017 – New toddler swings are installed.
November 2017 – APF adds a second It’s My Park Day event on the first Saturday of November (in addition to the first Saturday in March). This gives us a good opportunity to mulch the trees and plants before winter weather.
December 2017 – Second Carols and Cocoa event is held in the park to help raise money for park projects.
March 2018 – It’s My Park Day! This is Wooten’s 5-year anniversary of participating in the event.
PARD re-grades and gravels the walking trail
April 2018 – Work begins on shade pavilion!
August 2018 – The pavilion is completed! In addition to now having much needed shade, there are 4 additional picnic tables, two trash cans (including one for recyclables) and new sidewalks for ADA compliance.
November 2018 – It’s My Park Day
December 2018 – The Austin Parks Foundation hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the new pavilion. Various speakers were on hand, including our City Council representative at the time, Leslie Pool. Entertainment was provided by the Wooten Elementary choir, cheerleaders and dance squad.
Immediately following the ribbon cutting ceremony we held our 3rd Annual Carols and Cocoa event at the park, which was sponsored by American Party Rental, Arlan’s and Genuine Joe’s.
March 2019 – It’s My Park Day
October 2019 – We receive word our little park is getting a new playscape thanks to non-profit, KABOOM! and their partner, Landscape Structures as well as The Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, APF and PARD.
Kaboom worked closely with neighbors, school representatives, students and their parents to make sure we all had input in the final design. The kids even got to vote on what type of equipment they wanted as well as the colors!
November 2019 – Build day was the 6th – Wooten residents as well as an army of Dell employees showed up to make the goal of having the work completed in one day a reality. In addition to installing all new playground equipment, we also repainted the artwork on the sport court and built seating areas and storage boxes to go inside the school’s gated area.
December 2019 – Our 4th Annual Carols and Cocoa fundraising event was held.
And then…
People were unable to gather at the park to play soccer, have birthday parties under the pavilion or use the new playground equipment, however we were able to get out and walk…and what a wonderful gift Wootenite Rena McElroy Clegg gave us with her chalk drawings on the sidewalks around the park…
There were also other little hidden treasures to find as the pandemic wore on
March 2021 – I asked resident artist Darryl Freeman if he would paint a picture of the park to be used as the cover of our Wooten Neighborhood FB page, having seen paintings he had done of structures around the neighborhood. You probably saw his work at the Mexican restaurant at the end of Burrell if you ever ate there. What a wonderful talent he was..RIP, friend.
November 2021 – ☹ No It’s My Park Day…(thanks, Covid)
Early 2022 – In February work began on a major overhaul of the landscaped bed at the corner of Dale and Burrell. Over the course of a couple of months weed cloth was laid down over the mulch and river rocks were brought in over the course of several trips in order to cover the entire area. Some plants were removed and new ones planted.
November 2022 – It’s My Park Day
March 2023 – It’s My Park Day
November 2023 – It’s My Park Day
March 2024 – It’s My Park Day
November 2024 – It’s My Park Day