Friends of Shipe Park

Friends of Shipe Park is a group of neighborhood volunteers dedicated to preserving Shipe Park as a valuable resource for the Austin community, a place where people can play together, find moments of solitude and peace, or visit with their neighbors. Hyde Park Neighborhood Association (HPNA) collaborates closely with Friends of Shipe Park in its efforts to preserve and improve Shipe Park.

Friends of Shipe Park organizes several annual events, including It’s My Park Day, an annual effort sponsored by the Austin Parks Foundation on the first Saturday of March. Hundreds of Hyde Park volunteers turn out on It’s My Park Day to clean, beautify, and improve Shipe Park. 

In June of every year, Friends of Shipe Park sponsors the Shipe Pool Party and Movie Night, an afternoon and evening of swimming, live music, a movie in the field, and other family-friendly events.

Friends of Shipe Park also organizes the community to advocate for Shipe Park and pool; in that capacity, it played a key role in positioning Shipe Pool to receive the city funding necessary to rebuild the pool. In 2014, Friends of Shipe Park completed the installation of the Shipe Park mural, a large-scale glass mosaic at the north end of Shipe Pool. The mural was a multi-year, community public art project.

Friends of Shipe Park Resources

Source: Friends of Shipe Park site

Friends of Shipe Park volunteers at the annual “It’s My Park” cleanup day.

Photo Credit: Ellie Connell

Friends of Shipe Park volunteers at their annual pool day.