Trash collection and graffiti removal at Pease Park no longer fall to the City of Austin. Austin City Council voted unanimously to expand the Pease Park Conservancy's responsibilities to cover operations and maintenance across all 84 acres of the park, including amenities like the sand volleyball courts.
The vote, reported by KXAN Austin, expands a partnership that has existed between the city and the nonprofit for years. Pease Park Conservancy had previously managed the park's southern portion and the Kingsbury Commons area, according to the station's report. Now the Conservancy will take on trash pickup and graffiti cleanup park-wide, tasks that had remained with the city outside that core area.
Allison Johnson said the Conservancy is excited to take on operations and maintenance for all 84 acres, per the same account. Richard Craig, a District 10 resident and founder of the organization that eventually became the Conservancy, said he was thrilled the group could now care for the entire park. Supporters told council on November 5 that the latest phase fulfills a vision that began years earlier, the station reported.
How the Partnership Evolved Over Time
The arrangement traces back to a Park Operations and Maintenance Agreement the Conservancy says was signed with the city in January 2023 to formalize shared responsibilities, according to the Pease Park Conservancy's own partnership page. That page describes the Conservancy as responsible for daily operations in Kingsbury Commons, keeping that space clean and welcoming, while completing land-management projects across the full 84 acres whenever the city approves them. The same page states that, outside Kingsbury Commons, the city has been the primary party for operations and maintenance — a description that predates the expanded responsibilities KXAN reported this week and may not reflect the current arrangement.
A city council agenda item from November 5 described approving a phase plan under the existing agreement that would expand the Conservancy's duties to include operations, maintenance, land management, programming, event coordination and volunteer management, according to AustinTexas.gov. The agenda snippet describes the proposal but does not itself detail the plan's full implementation.
Why the City Is Leaning on Conservancies
Austin Parks and Recreation Department officials said the Conservancy's responsibilities expanded as its capacity to support them grew, per KXAN's reporting. Christine Chute-Canul, partnership manager with the department, said conservancies can dedicate more resources to individual parks than the city can through its regular budget. Johnson added that the Conservancy's work frees the Parks and Recreation Department to focus its resources and energy on other parks across the city.
Pease Park isn't the only green space run this way. The City of Austin currently has active Park Operations and Maintenance Agreements with both the Pease Park Conservancy and The Trail Conservancy, according to Austin Parks and Recreation. The Trail Conservancy has handled operations and maintenance at the Rainey Street Trailhead on the Ann and Roy Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail since that project opened in July 2024.
Troll Sculpture's Future Still Undecided
The expanded agreement comes months after Pease Park lost one of its best-known attractions. The 18-foot wooden troll sculpture known as Malin, completed in March 2024 under Danish artist Thomas Dambo with help from 150 local volunteers, was destroyed in a fire that struck the park in spring 2026, the Conservancy said, as reported by Audacy. The Austin Fire Department responded to reports of the blaze at approximately 5:30 a.m. that Thursday, and its arson unit investigated the cause, according to Audacy's report.
No formal decision had been reached regarding whether the sculpture would be rebuilt or the site repurposed, Audacy reported at the time. KXAN's more recent reporting states that the Pease Park Conservancy is now working with the artist to determine whether the troll will be rebuilt or replaced, though the ultimate outcome remains unresolved.
