Greener Grass

Deal progresses for Austin to acquire historic 'Muny' golf course

Uncertainty over Muny's future goes back five decades.

Photo courtesy of KVUE

The city of Austin and the University of Texas at Austin could soon be nearing a deal over the ownership of the historic Lions Municipal Golf Course, or "Muny."

Muny opened in 1924 and in 1950, it became the first public golf course in the South to voluntarily desegregate. The course sits on more than 140 acres of land owned by UT Austin and is leased by the city on a month-to-month basis.

The fight from golfers, neighbors, students, and other Austinites to preserve Muny's open public greenspace dates back 50 years.

"It should be saved," said Leonard Fiocca, who used to play on the course during his college years. "It should be preserved and everybody who comes here who's played it before [knows] its history."

Austin Mayor Kirk Watson said a proposed agreement would transfer ownership of the historic golf course from UT to the city. Meanwhile, UT said the West Austin Youth Association would receive the land where its campus sits. University officials said the deal is being helped along by anonymous donors who have proposed a large gift to the university.

"We've always been concerned about saving the golf course from development," said Scotty Sayers, co-chair of the Muny Conservancy. "So this new arrangement has some donor money going to UT to pay them for the golf course."

The deal, if approved, would amend the 1989 Brackenridge Development Agreement (BDA), which is an agreement between the city and UT on how the university may use the land it owns on either side of Lake Austin Boulevard for private development.

Sayers said Muny is also the site of Austin history.

"In 1950, there were two young Black caddies and they wanted to play golf but the course was segregated," Sayers said. "The mayor was told about it. You know what he said? He said, 'Let them play,' and suddenly the course was integrated, and peacefully integrated I might add, and it was a big part of civil rights history in Austin."

According to the city, city staff will brief the Environmental and Planning Commissions on the proposal in October and the proposed amended agreement will be brought to the full Austin City Council on November 19.

Read the full story at our news partner KVUE.com.

history preservation black history ut university of texas ut austin

NEXT CHAPTER

First Light Books to open second Austin shop in former church

Facebook/St. Luke

St. Luke UMC, which served Clarksville for 60 years, is being converted to a First Light Books.

First Light Books is working its adaptive-reuse magic once again. The beloved Hyde Park bookstore, which famously moved into a former post office, has confirmed plans to open a second location in fall 2027 inside Clarksville's former St. Luke United Methodist Church (1306 W. Lynn St.).

St. Luke UMC has served a number of purposes in the community. Not only was it a church, it also was a polling place, a childcare center, a meeting spot for Alcoholics Anonymous, and a partner to the Hope Food Pantry and local arts groups. The congregation closed at the end of 2024.

First Light will add a few more purposes to the building, converting the sanctuary into a bookstore and a cafe serving coffee, light fare, beer, and wine. The space will also host the shop’s signature lineup of author events, book clubs, and kids’ programming.

The bookstore's first location in Hyde Park, in a converted post office on Speedway that earned a 2025 Community Impact Award from the American Institute of Architects, has grown into a hub of neighborhood activity since opening in August 2023. The bookstore hosts more than 300 author events and community programs a year, from author signings and four monthly book clubs to children’s story time, a Wednesday chess club, and weekday happy hours.

“We’ve watched kids grow up here, seen new friendships and surprise engagements, and truly come to know and love our regulars,” co-owner Robin Bruce said in announcing the St. Luke location.

This fall’s calendar alone ranges from artist William Matthews in conversation with Lyle Lovett to cookbook release parties and poetry talks. The chess nights will expand to Clarksville, plus culinary events, daily story time, reading clubs, and creative-writing meetups for kids.

First Light Hyde Park Stained glass in First Light Books in Hyde Park was created by local glassworks Blue Moon Glassworks.Photo Courtesy of First Light Books

Other Austin churches have found second lives. Architect Michael Hsu converted a 1930s church into the flagship studio of product design firm Argodesign, and Rhode Partners turned a Mission Revival–style church in Bouldin Creek into four loft-style homes. Not every church has been so lucky, though: Prince of Peace Lutheran on Oltorf, a similar A-frame considered for landmark status, was demolished in 2019 and replaced by a car wash.

The proposal from First Light owners Taylor and Robin Bruce to rework St. Luke was the only one of 18 proposals for the property to offer preservation, their representative Graham Brown told the Planning Commission in March, according to Austin Current. Neighbors, including the Old West Austin Neighborhood Association, rallied behind the plan.

The new zoning on the property, approved by Austin City Council in April, allows a bookstore, cafe, gallery, and offices while keeping the 1958 sanctuary, with its steeply pitched roof and towering wall of stained glass, intact.

“At its core, First Light is about bringing vitality to a neighborhood,” Taylor Bruce said in the St. Luke conversion announcement. “In our three plus years in Hyde Park, we’ve found that books, coffee and wine, a shady courtyard and a beautiful shop, can open real connections between people.”

Design details, broadly outlined in state filings, are still under wraps. General manager Breezy Mayo tells CultureMap that First Light expects to share plans and renderings in early 2027.

The Bruces founded First Light with Mayo, who came from Austin’s hospitality world, including Bunkhouse. Taylor Bruce created the travel brand Wildsam, and Robin Bruce leads the Dovetail Impact Foundation. The shop partners with the Texas Book Festival, the Harry Ransom Center, the Michener Center for Writers, and the LBJ Presidential Library.

First Light’s membership program ($99 a year for free daily drip coffee, 20 percent off books and members-only events, or $250 for a patron tier with extra invitations) is available at the shop.

“We are excited to bring the same neighborhood-first approach to Clarksville and build a bookstore that feels rooted in the particular character and community of this part of Austin,” Robin Bruce said.