Zilker Park reopens after ACL

AUSTIN (KXAN) - The City of Austin reopened its great lawn on Friday after some significant abuse from the Austin City Limits Festival.

The lawn is beginning to green, but may not look healthy again until spring, city officials said. Then, crews will replace some of the turf at the northwest portion of the lawn.

Those repairs will cost about $15,000, said Austin Parks and Recreation Department Assistant Director Stuart Strong.

Austin-based C3 presents, which runs ACL, paid for the new turf and kept the area north of Barton Springs Road closed during the summer to install it.

C3 Presents will reimburse the city $2.5 million over the next five years. The music promoters will also pay for repairs and replacement to the lawn from damage done during this year's festival

"They have assisted us in any of the expenses the city has taken on," Strong said. "They have taken those directly."

The lawn took a beating during heavy rainfall from this year's Austin City Limits Music Festival and thousands of people tromping on the grass. In past years, the dry conditions caused a "dust bowl" of sorts, when the grass turned into dirt.