What's the latest on Waller Creek Boathouse's relocation?

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AUSTIN (KXAN) — The City of Austin is providing new details on the Waller Creek Boathouse's planned relocation into the former Youth Hostel site in east Austin.

City officials approved in 2022 plans to relocate the Waller Creek Boathouse, which includes the Austin Rowing Club (ARC), to a new location amid Project Connect light rail development work. The new boathouse and ARC location will be a city-owned site at 2200 S. Lakeshore Blvd.

City leaders, Austin Transit Partnership and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department have continued coordinating relocation efforts, including kickstarting a Youth Hostel Feasibility Study, the city announced in a Monday memo. The Austin Parks and Recreation Department (PARD) and the Watershed Protection Department have divvied up the feasibility study into two areas, with separate focuses on environmental and architecture work.

The feasibility study will analyze the next steps, along with a plan to finance both the boathouse and the dock's construction. That study will include:

• Facility and site assessment
• On-the-ground survey
• Bathymetric survey
• Geotechnical engineering evaluation
• Phase 1 environmental assessment
• Code analysis
• Research of local/state regulations, programming identification and preliminary design work paired with "conceptual level cost estimates"

The memo noted work on the study was expected to wrap this winter, with details on it available online. PARD is working with ARC on agreements and project documents for collaborations with Waller Creek Boathouse vendors, with another update from PARD expected on or before Feb. 1, 2025.