Town Lake Gazebo

About this property

The Town Lake Gazebo (also known as the Women in Construction Gazebo or Fannie Davis Town Lake Gazebo) is a historic gazebo on the south shore of Lady Bird Lake in Austin, Texas, beside Auditorium Shores. Built in 1969 to beautify the south shore of Lady Bird Lake, the gazebo was paid for by the National Association of Women in Construction and features eclectic architecture. The structure was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2020. In 1960 the completion of Longhorn Dam on the Colorado River created Lady Bird Lake (then known as Town Lake) on the south edge of downtown Austin, Texas. The next year the Austin City Council formed a Town Lake Study Committee to recommend plans for the development of public land on the shores of the new lake. In 1965 the Austin chapter of the National Association of Women in Construction approached the City with a proposal to contribute a civic structure to beautify the Town Lake shoreline. On November 9, 1965, City Council approved NAWIC's plan to build a public gazebo that would provide a scenic view of downtown Austin and of the lake from Auditorium Shores to the south. In January 1966 the Austin chapter of NAWIC began raising funds for the project and revealed an early design with a mushroom-like dome meant to echo and complement the roof of the (now demolished) Palmer Auditorium. City leaders held a groundbreaking ceremony on July 1, 1968. The project cost an estimated $6,000 in cash (equivalent to $60,000 in 2025), and NAWIC persuaded local construction businesses and workers to make in-kind contributions valued around $30,000 (equivalent to $300,000 in 2025). Construction was repeatedly delayed because the work was provided by local builders and contractors on a pro bono basis. The gazebo was completed in August 1969, and the site was dedicated on June 8 of the following year at a ceremony including national NAWIC leaders and Austin Mayor Travis LaRue. It also set a precedent followed in 1978 when the Austin chapter of NAWIC helped to fund the restoration of the Austin Fire Drill Tower on the opposite shore of Town Lake. In 1984 the gazebo received repairs and renovations, funded again by NAWIC, and the city officially renamed the structure the Fannie Davis Town Lake Gazebo in honor of one of the founders of NAWIC's Austin chapter. In 1992 the roof's oculus was covered with a transparent acrylic dome to keep out rain, and a wheelchair ramp was added in 1995. The most recent repairs and renovations were made in 2012. On February 7, 2020, the gazebo was added to the National Register of Historic Places in recognition of its eclectic architectural design and its significance as a piece of community-built civic infrastructure meant to beautify a public space. The City of Austin designated the gazebo a City of Austin Historic Landmark on February 27, 2025.

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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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