In 2024, Lakeway voters approved $22 million for five parks projects. As of October 2026, one is finished and one is under construction. The other three are either in design or waiting their turn. The two that are moving are the two smallest. Lakeway City Park and the Lakeway Swim Center together hold $16.67 million of the bond, about three of every four dollars, and neither has broken ground.
That order is the most useful thing to understand about the bond. It tells you why progress has felt slow at the parks closest to the lake, and why the next visible change will happen somewhere else.
The five projects, largest to smallest
Here are the bond allocations Community Impact reported in March 2026, with each project's status as of early October 2026:
- Lakeway City Park, $10.65 million. In design with the firm Dunaway. Design is due to wrap up by January 2027, and construction bidding is expected in fall 2027.
- Lakeway Swim Center Park, $6.02 million. Next in line after City Park. The city may issue a request for qualifications for an engineering firm early next year.
- Live Oak Tennis Courts, $2.72 million. On hold until the larger projects are further along.
- Butler Rough Hollow Park, $2.1 million allocated. Under construction since July 6, 2026, with opening expected in summer 2027.
- Lakeway Activity Center, $508,771. Finished. The playground there was completed in September 2025.
Read from the bottom up, that list is the order of completion so far. Read from the top down, it shows where most of the money is still waiting to be spent.
Why small came first
The Activity Center playscape was a project the parks department could run on its own. City Hall's own explanation of what came next is plain. In March 2026, Lakeway City Council voted 5-1 to let the city manager negotiate a contract of up to $253,550 with Pape-Dawson Consulting Engineers to manage bond work. Council member Matt Sherman cast the dissenting vote. Until then, the city had not used project managers on the bond. Parks and Recreation Director Andra Bennett said the remaining projects are more complicated and will need to run at the same time to stay on schedule.
"Simply put, we don't have the bandwidth or the expertise that is needed from an engineering standpoint to now manage these larger park projects," Bennett said. "This will help us stay on schedule, remain within budget and meet city standards, while also helping reduce risk and potential liability."
That is the mechanism behind the order. Each step up in budget brings more engineering, so each project needs a longer runway before anyone breaks ground. The Swim Center shows this most clearly. Bennett said the city is looking for a "unique engineering firm" for the aquatic facility. A pool calls for specialists that a playground does not.
What's already open at the Activity Center
The bond's first finished project is the all-inclusive playscape at the Lakeway Activity Center. It has natural play features for a range of ages, new landscaping and picnic areas. The Rotary Club of Lakeway/Lake Travis donated $50,000 toward it.
Butler Rough Hollow Park is the next ribbon-cutting
The next bond project to open will be the only one that creates a brand-new park instead of improving an existing one. Butler Rough Hollow Park broke ground on July 6, 2026, and is expected to open in summer 2027. An earlier timeline from December 2025 had aimed for spring 2027. The July 2026 projection pushed that back by one season.
The amenity list is longer than its bond line might suggest:
- An amphitheater with limestone block seating built into the hillside, facing a concrete stage
- A mountain bike course and a ninja course
- A bank shot play court
- A multisports field with a backstop, fence, baseball bases, portable benches and portable soccer goals
- A playground with built-in shade, roller slides, swings and several levels of play for all ages
- A pavilion, restrooms, picnic tables and benches
The budget comes in two figures. The bond allocated $2.1 million, but the July 2026 groundbreaking report put the estimated project cost at $2.6 million. They measure different things. One is what voters set aside, and the other is what the finished park is expected to cost. Some outside money is also coming in. At its Sept. 21, 2026 meeting, City Council voted 7-0 to accept a $50,000 donation from RH Lakeway Development, LTD for improvements at Butler Rough Hollow Park.
City Park: the largest project, and the longest wait
Lakeway City Park takes almost half of the bond on its own, and the plans would change how people move through the park. The concept drawings Dunaway and the city shared in September include:
- A full loop for vehicle traffic and a separate looped pedestrian trail
- A new skate park and pump track
- New pickleball courts
- Lake overlook areas
- A relocated sand volleyball court
- A relocated dog park with separate areas for large and small dogs
Community Impact reports these features at a conceptual level, so the list could change before design wraps up in January. The schedule is easier to read than the layout. Construction bidding is projected for fall 2027, so no City Park construction contract should exist before then.
For regulars, the most practical question is the dog park. The October update confirms it will move but gives no date for the move. The city points residents to its 2024 Parks Bond page for updates on each project, and that page is the place to watch for timing at City Park.
Swim Center and Live Oak: questions without dates
The Swim Center has $6.02 million allocated and is scheduled to follow City Park. The latest public step is a request for qualifications that "could be issued by early next year." That is the start of hiring an engineering firm, not a construction date.
In the meantime, the Swim Center is still hosting city events. Lakeway's new Floating Pumpkin Patch starts at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 17, there, ahead of that evening's Witches Ride down Lakeway Drive.
Live Oak Tennis Courts, off Lakeway Drive, is at the end of the line. City staff said in September 2026 that the site, which the city bought years ago, is still a community priority. They also said it will be addressed after City Park and the Swim Center are further along. That September update attached no timeline. Since it is the third-largest allocation at $2.72 million, the order of the bond points to Live Oak's turn coming after the two biggest projects have moved well into construction.
Reading the calendar from here
With today's dates in hand, the sequence looks like this. In summer 2027, Butler Rough Hollow Park is expected to open. In fall 2027, City Park construction goes out to bid. The Swim Center's request for qualifications for an engineering firm could go out by early 2027, and Live Oak follows after that. Bennett described the pace this way: "We're trying to get these [projects] cranked out as fast as we can, and I say that with a caveat of making sure that we're doing quality parks and park projects in the process."
The parks that hold most of the money are also the hardest to engineer, and the order of the projects follows that difficulty. For more on how the city is changing, our Lakeway neighborhood guide gathers local updates in one place.
Projects like Butler Rough Hollow and the City Park redesign shape how a street feels long before a ribbon is cut. If you'd like to talk about how the bond timeline fits your own plans in Lakeway, I'm glad to share what I'm watching at each site. Sharon Murray | Let's Connect.
