Seaholm Power Plant
Seaholm Power Plant | |
 Seaholm Power Plant in 2013 | |
   | |
| Location | Austin, Texas |
|---|---|
| Built | 1951 |
| Architect | Burns & McDonnell |
| Architectural style | Art Moderne |
| NRHP reference No. | 13000614[1] |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | August 20, 2013 |
| Designated RTHL | 2007 |
The Seaholm Power Plant is a historic former power station located on the north shore of Lady Bird Lake in Downtown Austin, Texas. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark. The facility and site are being redeveloped into a mixed-use district.
History
Power production
The Seaholm Power Plant was commissioned in 1948 to meet Austin's growing demand for electric power. The engineering firm Burns & McDonnell designed the complex, which was constructed in two phases in 1951 and 1955. The facility included a turbine generator building, a water intake structure, and an oil heating building, as well as a guard booth and a storage building. Originally called "Power Plant No. 2," in 1960 the plant was renamed posthumously for Walter E. Seaholm, a prominent figure in the administration of Austin’s municipal utilities.[2]
Seaholm served as Austin’s sole source of electric power from 1950 to 1959, until demand outpaced the 100 megawatts the plant could generate with all five boilers running. As other stations were built the city's reliance on Seaholm waned, and in 1989 the plant stopped providing power to the city, though it was used as a training facility until 1996, when it closed entirely.[3]
Redevelopment
The site lay dormant until 2004, when the Austin city council requested proposals for redevelopment partners. Several firms and consultancies formed an organization called "Seaholm Power, LLC" which was designated in April 2005 to lead redevelopment of the defunct power plant and the surrounding site.[4] A master development agreement was reached with the city in April 2008 specifying the renovations and new construction that would be undertaken.[5]
Work began on the plant's redevelopment in mid-2013.[6] The interior of the turbine generator building was converted to a mixture of office, retail and restaurant space, with tenants occupying the facility beginning in 2015.[7] A residential tower called Seaholm Residences was constructed at the west end of the site, also opening in 2015. As of 2016[update] the city has still not selected a final plan for the redevelopment of the water intake facility.[8]
See also
References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ "Seaholm Power Plant". National Register of Historic Places Program. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
- ^ Kaspar, Mary. "Preserving Seaholm's Power". Seaholm Power, LLC. Retrieved Mar 9, 2015.
- ^ DeCiutiis, Hannah Jane (21 April 2013). "Seaholm Power Plant site to be developed into public space for retail, apartments". The Daily Texan. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
- ^ "Seaholm Power Plant Redevelopment". City of Austin. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
- ^ Novak, Shonda (15 April 2013). "Seaholm redevelopment ready to break ground at last". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
- ^ Dugan, Amanda (9 February 2015). "Seaholm tenant moves in as transformation continues". KXAN. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
- ^ Staff (18 February 2016). "Austin to issue new call for developers of Seaholm intake facility". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
External links
