BY ELENI HIMARAS
reporter@ltview.com
Bee Cave is getting a new Backyard.
At last week’s meeting, city council members rezoned 44 acres between Texas 71 and the proposed Bee Cave Parkway Extension Road, west of RR 620, to build a new music venue to replace the recently closed fixture.

 ”I would like to personally thank John Paul DeJoria, David Armburst with Armburst & Brown, Patty Aykers, Zelda Auslander and Felix Benavidez with The City of Bee Cave and the entire Bee Cave City Council for helping us move forward with the new construction,” Direct Events President James T. O’Connor said.
The agreement was the product of an intense amount of work and compromise on both sides to keep the new venue in line with city standards while holding true to its roots. The original Backyard opened on Texas 71 across from what is now the Hill Country Galleria in 1993. It closed Oct. 26 of last year.
Groundbreaking on the new venue is expected this Spring.
The negotiations continued until the last minute as the city council and Direct Events staff hammered out the final provisions including temporary signage on Texas 71 to announce the reopening, removed stipulations on the timing of building the venue and adjacent hotel, and a tall flag pole for the Texas and Backyard flags.
Sixthriver Architects will be the lead design company of the 7,500-capacity venue. A team of environmental experts including John Jansing of Gray, Jansing & Associates, Inc, Connie Nelson and Tyra Kasey will ensure that the entire project is green.
“Our goal is to make this the most ecologically friendly venue on the planet,” O’Connor’s business partner, DeJoria told the council.
Green measures include preserving as much vegetation as possible, rainwater retention for irrigation, preferred carpooler parking areas, solar-powered low-level lighting and reuse of materials from the original venue.
The venue will have completely self-contained parking, plans for a hotel and restaurant, a wedding gazebo, tree-house decks and seating, retail buildings, a VIP pavilion and more. Designers say they hope to retain the feel of the old backyard by reusing not only material from the original site, but decor including the wishing well and many of the original signs.