TRAVIS COUNTY, TEXAS
CAPITAL FACILITIES
STRATEGIC PLAN
Executive Summary
VERSION 1.1
Approved January 15, 2002
TRAVIS COUNTY CAPITAL FACILITIES STRATEGIC PLAN VERSION 1.1
Executive Summary Travis County Capital Facilities Strategic Plan
INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE
The Capital Facilities Strategic Plan is designed to establish a framework
around which the Commissioners Court can review overall capital facility needs
and provide policy direction for the planning of future facilities. It is a
planning tool and not a static document. The needs and potential projects are
very conceptual in nature, and are not intended to represent fully programmed
projects. The document is intended to establish the basic planning parameters
and the platform for further planning for specific projects selected for
development. The Strategic Plan focuses on a long-range planning horizon
through 2020. Therefore, detailed interim steps necessary for executing the
plan (such as schedules and budgets) are not included.
BACKGROUND
County services are driven in large part by the particular needs of the county
population. The population of Travis County has grown by about 3% annually
over the last five years and the number of County employees has increased by
roughly the same percentage. This confirms what many believe to be
intuitively obvious – that population growth is a driver for predicting future
growth in County government. However, it is also intuitively obvious that a
very reliable factor to use for predicting future growth is the historical growth
trend of County government. In recent years there has been a relatively close
relationship between the growth in population and the growth in employees.
As County government continues to grow, there will be an increased need for
facilities to house county services. Assuming the County intends to
discontinue leasing space downtown in order to save taxpayer resources, it is
projected that by 2020 the Commissioners Court will need to provide an
additional 575,600 square feet of office space in and around the Austin Central
Business District. (Approximately 250,700 square feet will be needed to
support the courts system, and another 324,900 square feet will be needed to
support general government services). The Commissioners Court will also
need to plan for the expansion of functions currently located outside the
downtown campus as well as satellite services in the various precincts.
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TRAVIS COUNTY CAPITAL FACILITIES STRATEGIC PLAN VERSION 1.1
GENERAL DESCRIPTIONS OF FACILITIES
The Downtown Campus
The Downtown Campus is defined as a 12 square block area surrounding the
Historic Courthouse. Travis County owns 629,000 square feet of office space
in this area, and leases another 82,800 square feet in two buildings. This area
has developed over the years as an attractive location for attorneys to have
offices due to the proximity to the County and Federal Courthouses.
Travis County Downtown Campus
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The future development opportunities of this area are severely impacted by the
capitol view corridor ordinance. This state statute restricts the height of
buildings constructed in a particular view corridor in order to ensure that the
view of the Capitol is not blocked. Some of the most attractive sites for future
construction (such as the city block across from the Courthouse) are restricted
to between one and five stories. In addition, the Downtown Campus contains
the most expensive land owned by Travis County and has the most limited
parking available for users of the facilities.
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TRAVIS COUNTY CAPITAL FACILITIES STRATEGIC PLAN VERSION 1.1
Map of Downtown Campus with Capital View Overlay
GUADALUPE
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Other Austin Non-Campus Facilities
The County owns 152,000 square feet of space in a variety of other Austin
locations that are outside the Downtown Campus. Most of these are either
Health and Human Service facilities (such as Palm Square and facilities on Post
Road, East Cesar Chavez and Smith Road) or justice and public safety-related
facilities (an office building on Pleasant Valley Road, the Forensic Center, or
the Starflight Maintenance Hangar). These sites are generally outside the
capitol view corridor and many have opportunities for future development.
Satellite and Precinct Based Facilities
A wide variety of satellite and precinct- based facilities are located throughout
the County and house the Justices of the Peace, the Constables, the field offices
for Community Supervision and Corrections (CSCD) as well as the County
Road and Bridge Offices. Additionally, the community policing centers for the
Sheriff’s Office are in satellite facilities, as well as the rural Community Centers
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TRAVIS COUNTY CAPITAL FACILITIES STRATEGIC PLAN VERSION 1.1
and Health Clinics. This Strategic Plan also suggests that the Commissioners
Court may wish to locate customer service centers/desks for the Tax Assessor
Collector in each of the satellite and/or precinct offices in the future. 181,000
square feet of space is contained in these facilities in 8 locations. Many of these
sites have sufficient space for facility expansion, at least in the near term.
There are a number that have already had future redevelopment or relocation
discussed with the Commissioners Court.
Existing Owned Facilities
The Strategic Plan provides a general description of 27 facilities that are
categorized according to whether they are general government facilities (8),
court-related facilities (8), satellite facilities (8), or correctional facilities (3).
SPACE PLANNING PRINCIPLES AND GUIDELINES
The Strategic Plan identifies critical principles to guide the development of any
projects undertaken to implement the strategic directions outlined in the
document. The “Principles of Strategic Planning” address: collaboration,
maximizing existing owned real estate, parking, expansion space, operational
planning, owning versus leasing, quality standards, space allocation standards
and public scrutiny. In addition, there are “Guidelines for Executing the
Strategic Plan” that should be used in the development of architectural
programs for future County building programs. These guidelines address:
geographic location and relationships, massing or location within a building,
allocation of space, quality of space, and transportation and parking. Formal
adoption of these principles by the Commissioners Court will be an important
step in the review and approval of this Strategic Plan.
PLANNING THE DOWNTOWN CAMPUS
Looking ahead to 2020, the need for additional space will be difficult to meet in
the downtown region due to:
The increased cost of land downtown;
The relatively few parcels available to acquire near the existing campus;
The capitol view corridor statutes that limit future development on
existing County-owned land downtown; and
An existing shortage of parking spaces for users of the facilities.
Given the above circumstances, the Commissioners Court has endorsed the
concept of developing two County campuses. One downtown campus will
support the courts and have the Historic Courthouse as its anchor. The second
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TRAVIS COUNTY CAPITAL FACILITIES STRATEGIC PLAN VERSION 1.1
campus will house the County’s general government functions and be located
within a 10-minute drive from the Courthouse. By reusing the downtown
campus for court related functions, the Commissioner Court can minimize the
amount of construction needed to support this part of the County system. It
can also avoid adding operational costs for the transportation of inmates and
persons in custody. The existing office buildings can be reused for the
attorneys and other offices that support the courts. The Commissioners Court
can focus any additional construction needed downtown on the specialized
space needed for courtrooms. It can further develop office space for general
government functions in an area that does not carry the added construction
costs associated with development in the City’s dense urban core.
The Strategic Plan identifies the court-related services that would remain
downtown and presents an overview of tenant locations in the downtown
campus, assuming certain growth patterns over the next 20 years. FTE growth
is projected at 3% a year, and square footage requirements are based on
commonly used space planning standards. The number of civil, criminal and
probate courts is projected to increase from 28 courts to 36 courts by 2020.
REUSE OF EXISTING SPACE DOWNTOWN
Current
FTE
Current Sq. Ft. Projected
FTE by 2020
Pro
j
ected Sq. Ft.
by 2020
Courthouse
1
158,100
Probate Court 9 2,000 15
3
17,200
Justice of the Peace 5 10.5 2,600 18.4 6,400
District Attorney 181
4
52,200 317 75,400
Constable 5 50 4,000 87 12,700
Mail Room / Print Shop NA NA NA 1,200
Circulation 14,600 33,900
Total
208.5 75,400 364.4
146,800
CJC (with Annex)
302,900
Central Booking Non
office
staff
25,000 25,000
Travis County Sheriff's
Office
1,600 2,900
CSCD Intake 1,000 2,000
District Clerk (Criminal) 23.5 6,400 41 11,400
Grand Jury 1,200 1,400
District Attorney 181 35,900 317 0
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TRAVIS COUNTY CAPITAL FACILITIES STRATEGIC PLAN VERSION 1.1
Criminal Courts
5
70 60,200
5
123
5
104,000
Information
Telecommunication
Services
21 11,300 30
6
11,300
Pretrial Services 37 8,200 65 15,500
Travis County Sheriff's
Office
41,600 31,300
Law Library Included w/
Criminal Courts
5,000
Classification Housing 35,400 35,400
Mail Room / Print Shop 0 1,200
Circulation, Lobby and
Public Toilets
75,000 75,000
Total 302,900 308,100
TCAB
109,800
Domestic Relations 52.5
2
14,400 76 18,400
County Attorney 139 38,400 244 57,900
Copy Center NA NA NA
1,200
Circulation NA 12,600 NA 23,200
Total 63,000 100,700
EOB
55,200
CSCD 69 22,700 121 28,700
CES Intake 27
2
5,200 47 11,200
Copy Center NA NA NA 1,200
Circulation 8,400 12,300
Total 96 36,300 168 53,400
Note
1
: The existing space for the courthouse assumes that the 6
th
and 7
th
floors are
captured for useable office space. These floors are known as the “old jail” space
of the Courthouse and are currently used as storage space.
Note
2
: This figure represents space currently leased by Travis County.
Note
3
: The space allocation for the Probate Court includes 3 court sets.
Note
4
: The current square footage shown for the DA includes the space occupied at the
CJC and lease space at 205 W. 9
th
Street.
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TRAVIS COUNTY CAPITAL FACILITIES STRATEGIC PLAN VERSION 1.1
Note
5
: This figure includes FTE and square footage allocations for the Drug Court
program that reports to the Criminal Courts.
Note
6
: This allocation figure assumes that the growth in FTE indicated will be
accommodated in existing expansion space and through shift operations.
Existing downtown buildings will not accommodate the projected growth in
the Courts system. This means that the city block on Guadalupe across from
the Courthouse will need to be redeveloped. This site currently houses the
University Savings Building (now housing the Sheriff and Tax Assessor-
Collector) and the Holt building (now housing the mailroom and print shop).
Due to the capitol view corridor restrictions, no more than a five-story building
may be constructed above grade at this location, containing approximately
176,000 square feet of space. However, projections show a need for 250,700
square feet by 2020. This means that consideration will need to be given to
either building below grade or building on a County-owned parking lot on 10
th
street and Guadalupe, south of the Holt building. Physically connecting the
historic courthouse with a new development across the street would allow for a
more efficient campus for the court system.
NEW SPACE DOWNTOWN (Developed on the USB/Holt Site)
Tenant Current
FTE
Current Sq.
Ft.
Projected
FTE by 2020
Pro
j
ected Sq. Ft.
by 2020
Civil Courts 101,100
IVD Masters Court Not
County
Staf
f
1
7,600 Not County
Staf
f
22,500
County Clerk 78 18,700 136 35,000
District Clerk (Civil) 50 13,900 88
29,300
Law Library NA 5,000
Circulation, Public Lobby
and Toilets
57,800
Total 250,700
Note
1
: This space is currently leased by Travis County to support the IVD Master Court.
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TRAVIS COUNTY CAPITAL FACILITIES STRATEGIC PLAN VERSION 1.1
PLANNING THE GENERAL GOVERNMENT CAMPUS
The Strategic Plan identifies general government departments that would be
located in this new campus. Projections are made of the growth of these
departments through 2020. 324,900 square feet of space are projected to be
needed, along with sufficient parking to accommodate 980 employees and
customer and clients visiting the site. 15 to 20 acres should be large enough to
accommodate this development in low to mid-rise buildings with surface
parking.
Makeup of General Government Campus
Tenant Current
FTE
Current
Sq. Ft.
Projected
FTE by 2020
Pro
ected Sq.
Ft. by 2020
Commissioners' Offices 21 5,100
4
21 6,500
Commissioners Courtroom &
Conf. rm.
2200 3,000
County Treasurer 5 2,300 7 2,300
Records Management 43.5 8,000 63 15,100
Information
Telecommunication Services
54
1
14,700
78 18,700
Purchasing 27 7,000 39 9,300
Auditor 58
2
13,000 84 20,100
Planning & Budget 13 2,300
4
13 3,100
Executive Manager Admin.
Ops.
3 1,500
4
3 1,500
Facilities Management 27
1
8,200 39 9,300
Human Resource Management 22 8,200 32 7,600
Transportation & Natural
Resources
118
1
29,000 206 49,100
Justice & Public Safety 23.5
1
7,508 36.5 8,700
Health, Human & Veteran's
Services
96 38,400 168 40,000
Tax Assessor 105.5 19,300 185 44,000
County Clerk Elections 6
1
6,800 10.5 6,800
Records Management Print
Shop/ Mail Room
Included
in RM
numbers
above
4,800 Included in
RM numbers
above
4,800
Circulation, Lobby and Public
Toilets
3
53,492 75,000
Total 600.5 231,800 980.5 324,900
Note
1
: Represents area in leased space as of the date of this report. ITS leased space is
approximately 11,200 sq. ft. TNR leased space is approximately 4,500 sq. ft. EMS,
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TRAVIS COUNTY CAPITAL FACILITIES STRATEGIC PLAN VERSION 1.1
a part of Justice & Public Safety, is currently in approximately 4,508 sq. ft. of leased
space.
Note
2
: Assumes the FY '01 expansion of the Auditor to accommodate GASB 34 staff
Note
3
: Circulation, Lobby and Public toilet areas have been estimated at 30% of the
assigned space.
Note
4
: Assumes no growth.
Criteria for Locating a General Government Campus
This document also outlines the following criteria to use as a baseline for
identifying potential sites for the proposed General Government Campus.
Located within a 10-minute drive from the Travis County Courthouse.
Drive time should reflect traffic patterns between 9:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.
The site should be located at least 5 minutes from the Courthouse in order
to avoid the traffic congestion west of I H-35 and east of MOPAC.
Located along a major transportation corridor. Major transportation
corridors are defined as I H-35, MOPAC, HWY 290 East, 183 or HWY 71.
Located on or very near a Capital Metro route. A bus stop should be
located no more than 3 blocks from the site.
Located on or very near the Greater Austin Area Telecommunications
Network (GAATN) route. Information regarding the routing patterns for
GAATN can be requested from Information Telecommunication Services.
Located within an urban watershed
Located within a City of Austin desired development zone
No portion of the property should be in a floodplain, floodway critical
water zone area or transition critical water zone area.
Description of the surrounding area
The immediately adjacent properties should be compatible with general
office or public (government) use. The following zoning designations are
preferred:
GO - General Office LO - Limited Office
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TRAVIS COUNTY CAPITAL FACILITIES STRATEGIC PLAN VERSION 1.1
CS - Commercial Services LR Neighborhood Commercial
NO - Neighborhood Office IP - Industrial Park
The surrounding area should be compatible with a general office or public
(government) use. The following zoning designations are preferred for the
surrounding area:
GO - General Office LO - Limited Office
CS - Commercial Services LR Neighborhood Commercial
NO - Neighborhood Office IP - Industrial Park
LI - Limited Industrial R&D Research and Development
The site should accommodate an appropriate buffer area or green space to
allow for separation from adjacent properties and/or expansion space
beyond the 20-year projections.
Configuration of the site
The site should be sufficient in size to support at least 325,000 square feet
of building space plus parking for at least 1,100 vehicles and landscaping as
required by city ordinance.
The site should accommodate some level of park and ride service for
Capital Metro and/or parking for shuttle service to the Downtown Campus.
Area for access to the park and ride and shelter for those waiting should be
accommodated in the calculation of the land area required.
The following information represents the recommended configuration for the
site and the assumptions used. Although some variation to this configuration is
expected as detailed planning is developed for a specific site, any sites evaluated
should be able to meet the following configuration as a minimum buildout.
Buildings:
Three buildings at an average of three stories - area of the building footprint
is approximately 108,500 square feet.
Parking:
At this level of planning, the parking is configured as an on-grade lot or lots.
This will allow the Commissioners Court greater flexibility as they move
into detailed programming and design for the selected site.
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TRAVIS COUNTY CAPITAL FACILITIES STRATEGIC PLAN VERSION 1.1
Parking requirements have been calculated at the recommendation of the
Director of Facilities Management using a 75% utilization factor for
employee spaces. This equates to a 10% reduction of the current utilization
of employee parking in the downtown campus.
The total parking need at the site is estimated at 1,100 spaces - 750
employee spaces and 350 clients spaces.
The area required to accommodate the parking is based on a factor of 300
square feet per parking space. This includes both the parking slot for the
vehicle and the circulation or drive patterns for the parking lot. The total
square footage requirement for parking is estimated as 330,000 square feet.
Land Area:
The land area is calculated at a ratio of 80% impervious cover to 20% open
space. This should allow the Commissioners Court to comply with all City
of Austin ordinances for water quality and landscaping.
The total land required to support the building and parking requirements
above is 12.6 acres at a minimum.
Option to provide parking for jurors and jury impanelment at the
General Government Campus:
An additional 2.6 acres would be needed, if the Commissioners Court
elected to provide juror parking at the general government campus instead
of developing additional parking in the downtown campus.
The additional land would accommodate approximately 300 more parking
spaces. This number of spaces was derived assuming the courts maintain a
schedule of rotating jury weeks so that no more than 50% of the courts are
in a jury trial during a given week. This figure also assumes that the courts
and the District Clerk are successful in achieving an approximately 75%
utilization rate for an on-line jury impanelment process.
In keeping with the configuration outlined above, the Commissioners Court
should consider 12.6 acres as the minimum site size it will consider. For
planning purposes a target range for site selection should be 15 to 20 acres of
land to allow future Commissioners Court's flexibility in the configuration and
density of development over the 20 year time horizon.
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TRAVIS COUNTY CAPITAL FACILITIES STRATEGIC PLAN VERSION 1.1
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TRAVIS COUNTY CAPITAL FACILITIES STRATEGIC PLAN VERSION 1.1
Robert Mueller Airport was vacated in spring, 1999 with the opening of the
Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. This site may be a good location for a
Travis County General Government campus. The City of Austin has
undertaken an extensive master planning effort for the reuse of this land. The
Commissioners Court has formally expressed their interest in acquiring land at
this site in the form of a March 29, 2000 letter from the County Judge to the
Mayor. The Mayor has assigned City staff to investigate this opportunity with
the County Real Estate Manager. Currently, the discussions are focused on the
acquisition of 15 acres in the first development phase as described in the City
of Austin Robert Mueller Master Plan. The portion of the old airport targeted
as a potential site for a new county campus is in the northwest corner of the
airport, near I-35 and 51
st
Street. This is just over 4 miles from the existing
downtown campus and is within a 10-minute drive during normal business
hours. In the event the Robert Mueller site is unavailable or is deemed
undesirable after further investigation, other sites will need to be explored.
OTHER AUSTIN NON-CAMPUS FACILITIES
The County facility located at 2001 Post Road (near the Gardner-Betts Juvenile
Justice Center) is not developed as densely as it could be in the future.
Furthermore, the Strategic Plan proposes that administrative units of Health
and Human Services now located at the Palm Square site be relocated to the
general government campus. This means that two sites for providing
emergency assistance services to clients in the proximity of Palm Square and
the Post Road facility will not be required.
It is reasonable to expect that Travis County will redevelop the Post Road site
sometime beyond the 2020-planning horizon, given the current development in
the area. In addition, the county is currently leasing 12,000 square feet of space
in this facility to Legal Aid, and this space could be recaptured at a future date
for County operated services. Furthermore, the Constable 4 and Justice of the
Peace 4 will be moving out of the Post Road site by 2003 since the
Commissioners Court has approved the development of a new office building
for these two offices along with Community Supervision and Corrections
functions. This means that the Post Road site will have space available in it and
can be designated primarily as a Health and Human Services facility, which
would include Services for the Deaf (since it is so close to the School for the
Deaf). However, the building should also continue to house the Juvenile
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TRAVIS COUNTY CAPITAL FACILITIES STRATEGIC PLAN VERSION 1.1
Public Defender, since it is so close to the Gardner-Betts Juvenile Justice
Center.
These space assignments will allow the Palm Square building to be either sold
or perhaps traded for land to support a general government campus. Until that
occurs, however, the Palm Square site could be used to house the classrooms
needed by Counseling and Educational Services. This would allow the County
to discontinue using leased or donated classroom space and return the building
to its original purposes (it was built in 1930 as a school).
The county’s warehouse facilities at 5021 Cesar Chavez and 1600 Smith Road
are in need of redevelopment. The site on Cesar Chavez is ideal to meet the
needs of Health and Human Services. Redevelopment of this site to include
Agricultural Extension offices now located at the Smith Road site will
consolidate the two HHS functions and appropriately accommodate the Ag
Extension staff (which needs expansion space). Redevelopment of the Cesar
Chavez site will allow the vehicle maintenance and sign shop at Smith Road to
expand.
The Forensic Center located near Brackenridge Hospital does not offer
expansion opportunities once the space in the building is used to its maximum
potential. Should additional space be required beyond the time horizon of this
Strategic Plan, then the County will have to acquire additional land. Property
around the Forensic Center should be targeted for acquisition should it become
available in the future.
The Starflight Hangar and facility were purchased with future expansion needs
in mind. There are 6.5 acres of County-owned land adjacent to the hangar that
has been identified as a potential future home of the Purchasing Office Fixed
Asset Management Warehouse, Records Management Records Center,
Elections Operations for the County Clerk's Office or other County functions
that match the geographic area for service delivery requirements. Facilities Map.
SATELLITE AND PRECINCT FACILITIES
Satellite facilities support Road and Bridge Offices, Rural Community Centers
and Health Clinics, and Sheriff’s Office Command Centers. The Precinct
facilities support the Justice of the Peace and Constable offices in each precinct
along with Community Supervision and Corrections field offices. The Strategic
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TRAVIS COUNTY CAPITAL FACILITIES STRATEGIC PLAN VERSION 1.1
Plan provides an overview of some of the key planning strategies for these
various facilities, including:
1. The dedication of the Johnny Morris Road site solely as a Northeast
Satellite Road and Bridge Office once the Sheriff’s Office moves to a
new City of Austin Combined Communications Center. Once the
Northeast Satellite facility is dedicated strictly for the needs of the Road
and Bridge Office, it should meet the County's needs beyond the 20-year
planning horizon of this Strategic Plan.
2. Developing a land use plan for the James T. Collier Center that now
supports the community policing functions of the Sheriff’s Office for
eastern Travis County. Such a land use plan would consider the long
term use of this 47 acre site, including moving the Sheriff’s Training
Academy from the Del Valle Corrections complex, a firing range and a
driving course.
3. Consideration of moving the South Rural Community Center and Clinic
away from the Del Valle Correctional Complex to another site to be
determined.
4. Redevelopment of the Southeast Satellite Road and Bridge Office to
move buildings away from the flood plain and reconfiguration of the
septic systems at the facility.
5. Acquisition of a Sheriff's West Command Center in close proximity to
the Northwest Satellite Road and Bridge Office. This facility will be
acquired in FY '02.
6. Consideration of utilizing the 18 acre Southwest Satellite Road and
Bridge Office on Hamilton Pool Road as a location for the Precinct
Three Justice of the Peace/ Constable Offices.
7. Moving leased facilities for the Northwest, North, and West Community
Centers and Health Clinics into owned facilities.
8. Expanding the Precinct One Office Building (housing the JP and
Constable of that precinct) and acquiring additional land adjacent to the
existing location.
9. Acquiring the Precinct Two Office building (housing the JP and
Constable from that precinct), which is currently being leased.
10. The implementation of Customer Service Centers for the Tax Assessor
Collector at each of the Satellite and/or Precinct facilities.
11.Consideration of all in-fill development opportunities at the 129-acre Del
Valle Correctional Complex, made in conjunction with a land use plan
for the 47-acre James T. Collier Center site.
Facilities Map.
15
For a complete copy of the Travis County Capital Facilities Strategic Plan or for questions and 
comments contact Belinda Powell at 512-854-9506.