North Austin News

The City of Austin has announced closures for various facilities in observance of Juneteenth on June 19, 2024.

City recreation centers, senior centers, museums, and cultural centers will be closed. The George Washington Carver Museum will host the final day of the Stay Black and Live Juneteenth Festival starting at noon.

City parks, playgrounds, tennis centers, golf courses, and pools will remain open during their regular hours. Pools that are usually closed on Wednesdays—Springwoods, Dottie Jordan, Garrison, Martin, Patterson, Shipe, Little Stacy, West Austin, and Westenfield—will be open from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. Detailed pool hours can be found at AustinTexas.gov/Pools. Information on park closures is available at AustinTexas.gov/ParkClosures.

Austin Resource Recovery services including trash, recycling, and composting collections will follow their regular schedules without interruption. Customers can check their collection schedule via the Austin Recycles app or at austintexas.gov/myschedule. The Recycle and Reuse Drop-off Center and administrative offices will be closed; however, the Hornsby Bend Biosolids Management Plant will operate as usual for yard trimmings and large brush drop-off.

Austin Energy's Utility Customer Service Centers (walk-in branches) and Utility Contact Center (call center) will not be operational for Juneteenth. Utility bill payments can still be made online at COAutilities.com.

All locations of the Austin Public Library will close on June 19 but remote resources remain accessible through Library.AustinTexas.gov.

The Austin Animal Center will also be closed on June 19 and reopen the following day.

Downtown Austin Community Court services including the Violet KeepSafe Storage Program (VKS), Homeless Services, Court Services, and Community Services will observe closure on June 19 but resume regular operations on June 20.

For further information or questions regarding city services during this period residents are encouraged to call 3-1-1 or 512-974-2000 or submit service requests via the Austin 3-1-1 mobile app.

Juneteenth commemorates June 19th of 1865 when news reached Galveston that the Civil War had ended and enslaved people were free. This day has since been celebrated with political rallies across Texas. In recognition of this historic event’s significance to African American heritage in America’s history post-slavery era dating back as far as mid-nineteenth century upon emancipation proclamation by President Abraham Lincoln himself; The Austin City Council established it as an annual city holiday beginning in 2021 to honor those who survived slavery's brutal economic system.

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