| City of Austin administrative offices and public facilities will close in observance of the Juneteenth holiday, Monday, June 19, 2023. Parks and Recreation Facilities City of Austin Recreation Centers, Senior Centers, Museums and Cultural Centers will be closed on Monday. City parks, playgrounds, tennis centers, and golf courses will be open for their regularly scheduled hours on Juneteenth. View City pool hours online at AustinTexas.gov/Pools. Find all Austin Parks and Recreation facility closure information at AustinTexas.gov/ParkClosures. Austin Resource Recovery Austin Resource Recovery administrative offices will be closed on Monday, June 19. Curbside services will not be affected by the Juneteenth holiday and the Recycle & Reuse Drop-off Center will be open by appointment only (austintexas.gov/dropoff). Austin Energy Utility Customer Service Centers (walk-in branches) and Utility Contact Center (call center) will be closed for Juneteenth. Utility bill payments can be made at COAutilities.com. Other ways to pay can be found here. Austin Public Health Austin Public Health testing and vaccine sites will be closed Monday and will resume on Tuesday, June 20. Austin Public Library All Austin Public Library locations will be closed Sunday and Monday. Library resources that are available remotely can be accessed at the Austin Public Library website: Library.AustinTexas.gov. Austin Animal Center Austin Animal Center will be closed Monday, June 19 but will reopen on Tuesday, June 20. Downtown Austin Community Court The Downtown Austin Community Court's Violet KeepSafe Storage Program (VKS), Homeless Services, Court Services, and Community Services will be closed on Monday, June 19. The following day, all services will resume at their regular times: VKS at 7 a.m., Community Services at 7:30a.m., and Homeless Services & Court Services at 8 a.m. About Juneteenth On June 19th, 1865, the news finally reached Galveston, Texas that the Civil War had ended and that enslaved Africans and African descendants were free. The following year, the day became known as “Juneteenth” and there were celebrations and political rallies across Texas. Austin City Council established Juneteenth as an annual City holiday on the 19th day of June of each year, beginning 2021, to memorialize the end of chattel slavery in the United States and to celebrate the Africans and African descendants who survived an inhumane economic system and thrived as American citizens. |
