Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 3.4
A 1948 photo of Barton Springs Pool showing construction of a conduit to channel Barton
Creek around the pool. Source : PICA 20225, Austin History Center, Austin Public Library.
changing facilities, a security fence, and of course, the dam that creates
the pool of water. 17 Historic photos reveal the technically mediated nature
of the pool, as does the monthly cleaning process that requires the partial
draining of the pool (see fi gure 3.4). Though having less rhetorical power,
the springs and pool should be more accurately described as a hybrid of
natural, technical, and cultural processes that forge a unique relationship
between Austinites and their material surroundings.
Situated just upstream from the Barton Springs Pool is the 7.9-mile,
809-acre Barton Creek Greenbelt, a recreation destination for hikers,
mountain bikers, rock climbers, and swimmers. The greenbelt, completed
in the late 1980s, extends the notion of nature in the city with a cobble-
bedded creek, a dense tree canopy, sheer rock walls, and a primitive trail
system. 18 The greenbelt and springs refl ect the “green romanticism” em-
braced by many Austinites who forward the identity of the community as
rooted strongly in a pure, virgin nature. 19 There is a strong sense of place
informed by a reverence for nature and a fetishization of these places as
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