The Firecracker Open and the Imagine Muny Gala are fixtures on Tarrytown's annual calendar.
The Firecracker Open just wrapped its 2026 run at Lions Municipal Golf Course, and the Muny Conservancy's Fifth Annual Imagine Muny Gala is already selling tables for September. Both events bring attention to Muny's future: the golf course sits on land the University of Texas owns, under a city lease that has not become permanent. The tournament is a sporting competition, while the gala is a fundraiser.
A Tournament Older Than Most of the Houses Around It
The Firecracker Open ran July 3 through July 5 this year at Lions Municipal, the same Independence Day weekend slot it has held since 1946. It is a 54-hole amateur stroke-play event, and this year's field moved through two qualifying rounds in June before nearly 400 golfers took the course over the holiday. Past champions read like a roll call of Texas golf, including Tom Kite and Ben Crenshaw, both of whom learned the game on this exact layout as kids growing up nearby.
None of that history changes what the course technically is: a piece of the 500-acre Brackenridge Tract that the University of Texas owns outright. The city has leased roughly 140 acres of it for Muny since 1936, paying UT something in the neighborhood of half a million dollars a year for the privilege of keeping the course open. That arrangement has never been a purchase. It has never been a permanent easement. It is a lease, renewed and re-negotiated for nine decades, rather than a permanent ownership arrangement.
The Lease and Muny's Future
Muny's future is tied to the land arrangement. UT has floated the idea of developing the Brackenridge Tract for years, and the Muny Conservancy, the nonprofit formed in 2019 specifically to keep that from happening, has worked toward a binding deal. After four galas, that deal had not been reached.
As AOL reported, Ben Crenshaw, who co-chairs the Conservancy alongside longtime friend Scotty Sayers, said:
"The city and the university need to get together somehow."
Fundraising supports renovation plans and public attention. It has not yet secured a signed lease extension long enough to provide permanent protection for the course.
The Gala and Restoration Plans
The Fifth Annual Imagine Muny Gala lands September 10 at ACL Live at the Moody Theater, and this year's headliner is Tanya Tucker, backed by Asleep at the Wheel, Jack Ingram, and Wade Bowen under the banner "Texas Stars and Muny Legends." Last year's version, the fourth, became the Conservancy's biggest fundraiser yet, pulling in more than a million dollars with Wynonna Judd on the bill.
That money is restoration money, earmarked for the day the land question finally gets settled, not a mechanism for settling it. The architecture firm Coore & Crenshaw has already volunteered its design work for a rebuilt course and a teaching center honoring Muny's desegregation history. The plans are ready; groundbreaking depends on a permanent lease.
Recent Neighborhood Business Updates
Recent business openings and additions in the neighborhood include:
- April 2026 — Community Kitchen + Taproom opened its first brick-and-mortar location at 3110 Windsor Road, the storefront evolution of owners Marlon Rison and Ericka Dotson's Community Vegan food truck. The menu leans into Southern comfort food built entirely from plants, from oyster-mushroom fried "chik'n" to shiitake-based burnt ends.
- Last year — Casis Village added Face Foundrié, a facial bar offering skincare and brow services, to its retail mix.
- In 2025 — Zeds Real Fruit Ice Cream opened a second Austin location in the same shopping corridor, bringing New Zealand-style soft serve to the neighborhood's everyday errand run.
The businesses listed above occupy storefronts; Muny is on University of Texas-owned land leased to the city. The course's long-term land arrangement remains unresolved.
The Rest of the Rotation
Tarrytown also has several public spaces and amenities:
- Mayfield Park and Preserve sits on land the city holds outright, with peacocks, koi ponds, and footpaths across more than 20 acres.
- Deep Eddy Pool stays a spring-fed constant at 65 to 75 degrees regardless of the season, drawing lap swimmers and families who treat it as a daily fixture rather than a destination.
- Red Bud Isle gives dog owners 17 off-leash acres along the water, a routine most residents build without thinking about it twice.
- Walsh Boat Landing remains the neighborhood's public ramp onto Lake Austin, with lines that lengthen fast on summer weekends and holidays.
The places listed above are owned by the city or held in public trust. Muny's course, by contrast, remains on land leased by the city.
Muny's Land Arrangement
The Firecracker Open, nearby businesses, and public spaces offer different views of Tarrytown. Muny's land arrangement remains unresolved. The September 10 gala will bring supporters together; whether a permanent agreement follows remains an open question.
If you're weighing a move into Tarrytown, or already live here and want a clearer read on how neighborhood dynamics like this affect long-term value, Kinan Beck, One Source Team can walk you through what's actually happening on the ground. Schedule Your Austin Consultation today.
