And in order to provide adequate space for two 2,000-foot runways, the company leased an additional one hundred acres north of the original tract. They made a small down payment with manageable monthly payments. McDonnell believed that public ownership was the way to guarantee quality service over profits and he also believed that the money generated by public power plants should stay in communities to help pay for public services. This web project presents an annotated chronology of major events in the desegregation of Austin, Texas, from 1940 to 1980 as they appeared in local newspapers and other materials such as the Austin Files (AF) in the archives at the Austin History Center, Austin Public Library. On May 21, 1946, they purchased fifty-four acres on Burnet Road (now Research Boulevard) northwest of Austin, for 500 per acre. The three buildings on the site - the Turbine Generator Building, Water Intake Structure and Oil Heating Plant – were built with solid concrete construction and decorated in Art Deco style.Īlthough it was not a local firm, the selection of Kansas City-based Burns & McDonnell to design the power plant reflected Austin’s values of public ownership of electric utilities. The power plant structures were constructed in two phases - 19 - on the north shore of what is now Lady Bird Lake, just west of a city-owned steam plant. 2 at the time, to meet the post-World War II growth and demand for electricity. In 1948, the City of Austin commissioned the Seaholm Power Plant, referred to as Power Plant No.
