“Pike Powers was a big part of Austin being a focal point in the worldwide economy today," Mayor Kirk Watson, who sponsored the renaming, said in a statement. "His ongoing decades-long work, at least as far back as helping navigate bringing Microelectronics and Computer Corporation (MCC) to Austin in 1983, was instrumental to Austin becoming a place the world looks at for innovation, creativity and excellence."
The big picture
"Old" Red River Street, a now-unused portion of the roadway between 12th and 15th streets, will soon be designated as Pike Powers Plaza following City Council approval Oct. 9.
The street has been closed down since Red River was realigned as a straightened north-south route through Austin's medical Innovation District. The city blocked off the old street last year, and Austin Transportation and Public Works is now planning further improvements around the plaza.
"ATPW’s goal is that the space becomes a vibrant pedestrian-oriented space that becomes an asset to current and future downtown residents, workers and visitors," spokesperson Brad Cesak said in an email.
To improve safety and reduce maintenance needs, new signage and barriers like limestone blockades were previously installed on both ends of the plaza for about $50,000. Further updates will be based on community input, with engagement under a planning project that began this summer overseen by consultants The Goodman Corp. and Moore Iacofano Goltsman.
"ATPW anticipates a 12-month planning process. More information about how the public can provide feedback on the future of the site will be coming soon," Cesak said.
Once the street's renaming is official and the transportation team has approval to install new signage, two markers for Pike Powers Plaza will be installed within about 10 days for $500.
Watson said he was first contacted last year by some of Powers' friends who sought to recognize his local legacy. The downtown plaza was later identified as a suitable space for that designation.
"This area, which faces the Texas Capitol to the west ... The University of Texas [at Austin] to the north, and the new Innovation Tower to the east, is a great and fitting example of the visionary work that Pike was able to do in making Austin a 21st-century city as an influential leader in Austin’s tech boom wearing his many hats, including as chair of the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce," Watson said.
Powers, who died in October 2021, was a Houston native. He attended Lamar University in Beaumont and graduated from The University of Texas at Austin's law school in the mid-1960s. He was later elected to the state House where he represented East Texas' Jefferson County from 1972-79, and he served in former Gov. Mark White's office in the early 1980s.
"He was one of those people who gave back to those coming behind him by providing advice and encouragement. He had been a highly successful president of the Texas Young Lawyers Association and, when I was making my way to being TYLA president and while I was serving in that role, he was always there to help," he said. "Pike did that for everyone. And he was very good at it."
Several people testifying at City Council's early October meeting spoke to Powers' positive legal, legislative and economic impacts. He's been credited as a key driver in Austin's late 1900s tech boom who:
- Helped bring MCC and semiconductor consortium SEMATECH to Austin in the 1980s and recruit Samsung Austin Semiconductor to the area in the 1990s
- Drafted state economic development policy to incentivize tech investments
- Testified on technology innovation before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science
"Pike was a wonderful friend and mentor to so many Austinites. He exemplified the definition of public service. I know that he would be proud to see the city that we are today because of his work," Watson said.
