Study raises questions about senior/child care center proposed for Nash Hernandez Building

A new study calls into question the feasibility of proposals to use the Nash Hernandez Building in East Austin as an activity center for older people and young children.

The report on the legal and financial realities of the intergenerational resource and activity center (IRAC) has caused staff from the Austin Public Health Department and the Parks and Recreation Department to reconsider the scope of the proposed center and where it may eventually be located.

A recent memo from APH Director Adrienne Sturrup outlines a number of requirements that would limit the array of services that could be offered at the Nash Hernandez Building if it were to remain the preferred location for the IRAC. The building is centered in the Holly Shores/Edward Rendon Sr. Metropolitan Park at Festival Beach.

One of the concerns is that state law would prohibit the city from offering health care services, which caused the city Law Department to advise against providing physical or mental health services at the IRAC as had been planned.

The desire for a child care center in the now-vacant Nash Hernandez property would also prove problematic because an economically successful business built to serve 68 children ages 4 and younger would need more than 6,200 square feet of indoor space plus 2,250 square feet of outdoor space.

That footprint would leave less than 3,000 square feet for programming for older adults, intergenerational activities, offices and space needed for movement around the facility.

The costs for the child care center are estimated to total $894,000 annually for 18 full- and part-time staff, plus about $600,000 in startup funding for furnishings, toys, outdoor play equipment and other necessities. It is estimated the center would need $1 million per year in operational support for two years until it reaches its expected full enrollment in its third year.

State licensing requirements for child care facilities would also create logistical issues with the intergenerational component of the center because of the requirement that anyone older than 13 who is “regularly or frequently present” at the child care operation would need to undergo a background check.

The Nash Hernandez facility has been the favored location for an IRAC since 2022, with stakeholders for older people and families arguing East Austin needs services for both age groups. City Council passed a resolution late that year calling for a plan to create an IRAC at one of four locations, with Rudy Mendez Recreation Center, George Morales Dove Springs Recreation Center and Dittmar Recreation Center as the other three possible sites.

The new study notes that of the four proposed sites, three qualify as a desert for subsidized, quality child care, with Dittmar found to have adequate offerings near its South Austin location.

Locating an IRAC on any of the proposed PARD properties would also require the bureaucratic step of City Council approving a use beyond those typically designated for parks sites.

There has been significant objection to the possibility of the Nash Hernandez Building being converted into a center focused specifically on older people and children. The memo notes that the IRAC is in conflict with the uses designated in the Holly Shores/Edward Rendon Sr. Vision Plan, which was completed in 2015 after substantial community engagement.

PARD staff have also called into question whether an IRAC would be the best use for the Nash Hernandez Building. A 2022 memo that preceded the Council resolution noted the budgetary challenges that would stand in the way of the IRAC conversion, and instead supported using the building for an expansion of PARD offices.

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Posted In: Planning, District 3