Lions golf course threatened, according to national report

A national education and advocacy organization has named Lions Municipal Golf Course in West Austin as a threatened site, the Austin American-Statesman reported Monday.

The Cultural Landscape Foundation, a nonprofit organization established to raise visibility and empower stewards of North American landscapes, included LIons Muny in its list of places under threat Monday, according to the Statesman—shortly before the University of Texas System Board of Regents will likely take up a city request to extend an important deadline for negotiating changes in its Muny lease with the university.

The daily reported that the city wants to negotiate on the deadline for notice of cancellation of the lease by either party from November 26 to February 28. The lease extends through May 25 and extends automatically for five years if neither side gives notice to cancel by the prescribed deadline.

As its location has become more attractive for development in the ever-growing city, the future of the course has has come into question. It has been recognized as a leader in desegregating Southern golf courses in the 1950s; thanks in part to the work of longtime advocacy group Save Muny, the Texas Historical Commission advisory committee and the United States Golf Association have called for Lions’ preservation.

The state Historical Commission awarded it a historical marker in 2009. In 2016, the course was added to the National Parks Service’s Register of Historic Places and to the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s 2016 list of 11 Most Endangered Places as well as winning a Preservation Austin Merit Award.

The university has shown interest in developing the 141-acre parcel of land, known as the Brackenridge tract, that contains the course and in 2009 commissioned preliminary plans for a mixed-use development at the site.

• Cultural Landscape Foundation lists Muny among significant sites facing threats [AAS]