The National Trust for Historic Preservation named Austin’s Lions Municipal Golf Course and Park, known affectionately as “Muny” by locals, to its list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. Muny has also formally recognized as a landmark for civil rights history with a listing on the National Register of Historic Places.  

This is a Petition to preserve all 141 acres of Lions Municipal Golf Course (“Muny”) as an 18-hole municipal course and park. Muny is:

• A local treasure steeped in Texas golf history,
• A public open space that is essential to our community's quality of life, and
• An important symbol of our continued progress towards equal civil rights.

As the first municipal course in the South to desegregate in 1950-1951, Muny is worthy of preservation solely for the educational value of historical events that occurred there. The course also offers mixed-income recreational opportunities, a home for hundreds of heritage trees, and precious urban green space.

Accordingly, the City of Austin City Council, the University of Texas Board of Regents, and the Texas Legislature should forthwith initiate discussions and or support legislation with the goal of preserving Muny as symbolic of sportsmanship and fair play in athletic competition and as a site where social equity and justice prevailed without violence or even social discord. The means by which Muny is preserved should reflect all these values.

 Save Muny!