Zilker Zephyr Miniature Train

01/31/2020

Final Statement

Thank you to the people of Austin who get it! It’s not that we are unhappy with our contract ending. It’s that we are unhappy the way Parks and Recreation Department (PARD) handled the whole situation, that we believe was deceptive. Why did PARD lead us to believe we had a chance to make repairs and a contract extension? Why not say, “let’s wait because our contract is almost over and PARD might want to put the contract out for bid again.” Instead, you/PARD mislead us and let us spend over forty thousand dollars and countless hours on finding a solution for the problem. It’s easy to dismiss someone’s hard work and commitment to the City of Austin when your money isn’t involved. The contract between the vendor and the COA is an agreement, that proved to be successful up until the last actions and unethical practices by the city staff. The perception and actions by the city prove that the small businesses in Austin and locally owned are not a priority.

We understand that the Zephyr wasn’t going to operate forever, however it would have been nice to go out on better terms. We know that natural disasters occur and that it’s no one’s fault, but to look the other way and say “the department is working expediently as possible to procure a new vendor”is a low blow for the length of time the Zephyr has been a part of Zilker Park. Furthermore, the council members responses is a reflection and an attitude of “business as usual”, and no regard to one local business owner. Instead, let’s get a new vendor nothing wrong here!

Lastly, there are a lot of people out there claiming they know this and that, but really don’t know anything about the arduous work, meetings and time/money that was involved for a successful solution. It’s unfortunate, that they have a platform that’s easily misused and does not align with city ethics.

In addition, yes, we are leaving Zilker Park and we are taking our big green Zephyr train with us!

Zephyr Management

NOTE: We plan on pulling the train out of the tunnel for Austinites, families and visitors to take pictures. We will be selling our remaining souvenirs/memorabilia this coming weekend 2/1/20, from 11am-2pm and 2/2/20 11am-2pm.

Photo-

01/30/2020

http://www.austintexas.gov/news/operation-zilker-zephyr

The Austin Parks & Recreation Department is saddened by the temporary closure of the Zilker Zephyr. The Zephyr is more than a train ride through Zilker Park, it’s part of Austin’s history and a cultural institution. The Department takes the operation of this beloved amenity seriously and is work...

01/29/2020

After 22 years of serving the people of Austin the time has come for the Zephyr to say goodbye. First, we want to thank the people of Austin for sharing the last two decades with us during your visits to Zilker Park. We are proud to say as native Austinites and a family owned business, that these years have been a pleasure. We had a great experience in Zilker Park up until our closure of the Zephyr due to rainstorms in 2019.

As friends of the Zephyr, we feel we should share the reasons for our departure as it was met with many unfortunate roadblocks which ultimately led to our closure. The shutdown of the train was due to erosion along the river, caused by runoff along the hike and bike trail. The unprecedented rains required proactive action by the Zephyr management that started in May 2019 through October, we had countless meetings with parks and recreation staff and our professional engineer that we personally hired. During this time, we developed options and a final solution to get the Zephyr back on track.

However, even though we and Parks and recreation still had a one (1) year option to exercise and extension, the Zephyrs contract with parks and recreation would come to an end before the project could be completed. Knowing this, in May 2019 we had discussed with Parks and recreation staff a five (5) extension to our contract and they had stated to us they were "committed to providing a quick turnaround."

In October 2019, despite us spending countless hours and tens of thousands of dollars on designs and preparing paperwork for Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and City of Austin permits, all our efforts were met with us getting told that instead of allowing us to make the repair and offering us a contract extension, both the Concessions and Contracts committee and Parks and recreations board voted on putting the Zephyr contract out to bid. However, the parks and recreation director still had the opportunity to decide to offer us a contract extension or choose to put the train contract out to bid. This was an about face on part of the staff. Needless to say, misleading.

On October 24, we reached out to parks and recreation director to request a meeting with her to explain the details of our repair and to justify our five (5) year extension in order to complete this project. City staff informed us that there weren't any meetings for that week and that we would be kept in contact to schedule another meeting at a later time. This was deceptive we never heard back from staff. So, we made another attempt to schedule a meeting and never had a return call or email response. We finally received an email in December from the park director with a "final offer" contract, which was a guaranteed three (3) year with two (2) one year options. While our decision to turn down the offer was not taken lightly, we had to take into consideration that ultimately it would not have been a good business decision for us. Due to the amount of money we had projected we would have to invest for the repair - we understood only a contract with a guaranteed five years would make financial sense for our level of investment.

We are sorry we have to say goodbye like this because the Zilker Zephyr has been our family's love and passion, and we know the people of Austin and around the world loved it as well. Again, thank you for allowing us to serve you the last 22 years.

Zephyr Management

05/14/2019

Due to erosion from the recent rains, the Zephyr is temporarily closed. We will update this post when we have more information on re-opening. Thank you.