William B Travis High School - Rebel Roundup Yearbook (Austin, TX)

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In December of 1959, the construction of lH-35 in the downtown area continues toward South Austin. The area being worked on is across the street from Brackenridge Hospital. if OS For the first time in recent mem- ory, there was a new way to cross the Colorado River. The Loop 360 Bridge, seen here looking north, opened in December, 1982, spanning Lake Austin with its unique suspension arches. The bridge brought South and West Austin nearer to North- west Austin. Prior to its opening, the nearest road crossings on this portion of the river were Mansfield Dam and Red Bud Trail below Tom Miller Dam on Town Lake. -011' , The Hill Country west of Aus- S tin frames the downtown sky- line, a view off Loop 360, the Capital of Texas Highway. Town Lake night reflections are of Austin's no-longer-used fire practice tower, sl-.- W .85 .yi i In 1961, a group of boys from a club once at Travis, the Key Club, works on clearing a walkway down Oltorf. The area across the street was once an open field.

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Building reflects Sqhggl 30 ears of ro th Changes Phrf'fa r 8 Memories of the physical environment of Travis High School through the years can be as vivid to the thousands of people who have come and gone through 30 years as can memories of the people, moods, atmosphere, programs, fashions and activities that make up any high school. Through 30 years at Travis there was always the breezeway, the gym, the upper and lower levels, the woods next door, and the curved sidewalk and canopy leading to the front door. Such memories are common to many generations of students who look back to their high school days at Travis. ln 1982-83, as in other recent years, the memories also included buckets and new- spapers soaking up rainwater from leaky roofs, and classrooms that were often too cold in the winter, and too warm in the fall and spring. In a nutshell, breakdowns in the physical plant were everyday facts students accepted, usually with little expression of annoyance. The Austin Independent School District'sfirst bond election in 13 years was held Feb. 5 not only to build new schools to meet Austin's growing needs, but also to improve, renovate, and bring 1980s technology to aging physical plants such as 30-year-old Travis. ln this school year, as in other recent years, facilities for learning were always adequate, but there was plenty of room for modernization. Unlike Austin's high schools built inthe 1960s and early '70s, Travis lacked energy efficiency. The plant, spread over many acres, was much like a house that has been added to and patched up so many times that each room is a statement of architectural styles of different ages. These ranged from the carpeted, well-organized Language Arts and Social Studies wing - Travis' most recent major addition - to the noisy gym, which lacked air conditioning, to the sciencefhealth portable which new students could never find. On the east end, outside, was the familiar smoking circle, gas station, and Denny's restaurant. On the west end was the steady stream of students coming and going from the secretive woods, future site of a city wilderness park. Through 30 years, as in this year, were the common sentiments expressed by students: five minutes between classes is not enough time for me to get from my homemaking class to my history classg l was late because it was raining and I had to go the long way, I got caught in the halls outside cosmetologyg and my hubcaps were stolen in the parking lot. Most students will look back fondly on the physical school - Travis High School - realizing that the variety and diversity, from one end of the building to the other, made the experience unique. . . . Through the years Spooner directs a p BELOW: In the for students classrooms. X... LEFT: At the Bands Christmas Concert, Assis- tant Band Director Steve iece. hall march Fiebelettes Samantha Pott, Alison Fendley, Eva Biddle and Michelle Pavlik perform IH ,Q s x XR pi ,av An aerial view of the school in 1975 shows the constru '70s 'chief . ction of new additions. Being constructed was the autobody shop, the English and Social Studies wing, and the Industrial Arts wing.

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Cranes dominate . . .through do nto skyline By DEE DEE HILL In 1982-83, construction was the best word to give a physical description of Austin. All through the city skyline cranes could be seen. Congress Avenue was undergoing a major facelift. Parts of the street were closed to only one lane of traffic each way because of the construction. Other areas that were under construction included Ben White near the I-35, land on Town Lake near Riverside Dr. and the corner of South 1st Street and Barton Springs Road. Most of the buildings that went up were apartments, condominiums and office space. ln the downtown area many stores either moved or went out of business due to the opening of more large malls and department stores. Scarbroughs' downtown store closed. The store was long a landmark on Congress Avenue. Several other businesses including Woolworths went out of business earlier to make room for new high-rises. On a nationwide basis, Woolco wentoutof businessin 1983, and the Austin stores closed. Austin was growing in size, both in population and in physical area. To help ease the growing pains several plans were proposed. The Austin independent School District held a S210 million bond election in February. About S134 million was to go for the building of one senior high school, three junior highs, and nine elementaries. Of the 13 schools proposed 11 were to be built in South Austin. The rest of the money would go towards renovations and improvements in all the AISD schools. Another proposal was the annexation of Oak Hill into the Austin city limits. ln the Fall of 1982, Austin voters unanimously passed a bond election which included money for parks, utility improvements, and im- provements in essential services such as police, fire and Emergency Medical Services. The passage of the bond election, coming after the defeat of several Austin bond elections in the previous 5 years, was a signal that Austin citizens were finally ready to deal with the inevitable growth of the city and give it some guidelines and directions. inthe bond election on September 1 1, money was also approved by voters to build a wilderness park in South Austin. The park was to be built on the 38 1!2 acres of land between Travis High School and St. Edward's University. Austin's East 6th Street continued to be the city's entertainment center. In the Fall of 1982 the area was so popular on weekends that sidewalks and traffic control became a headache, promoting the City Council to experiment with closing East 6th to traffic. The Council also banned open containers of alcohol in the area. New roads were built and the old ones were fixed up. Planning for the North and South extensions of MoPac continued. The Loop 360 bridge over Lake Austin was opened in December 1982. Improvements continued on I-35 South of Town Lake. The bridge over Woodland was expanded, and improvements were planned for the Oltorf and Woodward Street bridges over I-35. Condominiums continued to boom in the University of Texas area, and controversy surrounded UT's plans to expand into East Austin. On January 11, the 1983 Texas Legislature went into session. These sessions are held every other year. The 88th Legislature elected a new Speaker of the House, Gib Lewis. Lewis replaced Speaker Bill Clayton who had served as Speaker for four terms. Austin was once again transformed into playing its major role as the seat of the state government as politicians, legislators, lobbyist and citizens statewide swarmed into the Capital City, 0 A u tl n Changing with the times the years 1 A View of the State Capitol from Red Bud Trail in Westlake Hills contrasts with colorful Congress Avenue and the Capitol at night. As high-rise construction Doomed in downtown Austin, concerned citizens lobbied the City Council for height restrictions that would preserve views of the Capitol. Sen. Lloyd Doggett also introduced a bill into the 1983 State Legislature that would prevent state buildings from blocking the view. '70s , . ln 1978, farmers head for the grounds ofthe State Capitol in hopes of gaining government support. Today the Capitol is still a favorite place for organizations to meet in an attempt to gain influence.