Park Protection
ACL Fest contract determines who pays for damage to park after rain
Zilker Park is a public asset, and the private company behind ACL Fest is responsible for keeping it in good shape.
Weekend 1 of the Austin City Limits Music Festival (ACL) is over, but heavy rainfall left parts of Zilker Park’s Great Lawn in a rough state.
So, who pays to restore the lawn after Weekend 2 of ACL wraps up?
According to a contract between the city of Austin’s Parks and Recreation Department and C3 Presents, the organizer of ACL, C3 is responsible for restoring damage to Zilker Park after the festival. That contract is in effect through 2040.
The contract states that the parks director decides whether the festival caused damage and how much repairs will cost. C3 must pay for repairs if the director says they are needed.
The contract states, “The Organizer agrees that continuing an event during rain without the approval of the City is defacing City property and the organizer will incur and be responsible for additional fees, charges, damages, and all costs associated with repairing city property, including labor costs.”
The contract also says, "Organizer shall pay the cost of repairing any and all injury and damage which may be done to the Property or any of the structures or plant life thereof by any act of Organizer or any of Organizer's employees or agent or anyone visiting the Property upon invitation of Organizer including the patrons of the attractions or function for which Organizer is hereby renting the Property described."
In layman's terms: If C3 or anyone attending ACL messes up Zilker, C3 has to pay to fix the damages.
But there's still one weekend of the festival left, so in the meantime, organizers said Sunday that they are bringing in additional resources to remove temporary turf and ground protection used during the first weekend. They also said they will limit activity on the grounds ahead of Weekend 2.
Festival organizers said they are assessing the condition of the grounds and will meet daily with Austin Parks and Recreation officials to prepare for remediation after the festival. They said they remain committed to “leaving the Great Lawn better than we found it.”
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Read the full story at our news partner KVUE.com.
