[1] The site includes a memorial statue of late Austin resident Stevie Ray Vaughan, who played a number of concerts at Auditorium Shores.

On May 25, 1987, the Gregg Allman performance at Auditorium Shores was recorded by the King Biscuit Flower Hour and broadcast at a later date.

The finance plan allowed construction funding for the PEC to exceed the City's bonding authority, and for park development to be completed in four phases on an accelerated schedule thanks to an inter-department line of credit of up to $6 million.

The bond covenants undermined the recently adopted Jim Smith finance plan by specifying a car rental tax funds dispersal "waterfall" such that covering any operations and maintenance (O&M) shortfall for the PEC would take complete priority over any park construction funding.

Jim Smith's August 2000 financial update to Council[19] insisted that the park financing was on track and might even be accelerated, even though its underpinnings had been destroyed.

Though allocated Phase II funding, along with a $480,000 donation from the Junior League of Austin that was declined by the City because of the delay, would have been adequate to construct Butler Park in 2002, by 2005 it was not.

[21] Phases III and IV, covering the Auditorium Shores and lakefront area, were removed from the financial plan altogether, with staff citing insufficient funding.

[22] The Convention Center Department enriched its employees personally with the windfall from the car rental tax redirection.

The bonuses were questionably justified for years, having been supported by performance reviews that Convention Center Department Director Bob Hodge falsified and for which he was indicted and fired.

In Fall 2007, senior management pledged to stakeholders to formulate a plan to wean the Convention Center Department from the car rental tax.

To date, private donations park-wide have well exceeded the charitable component required in the original Jim Smith financial plan.

When aborted, planning efforts for that area had produced some new configurations that would realize the goal of making the park the "front porch" of the City.

Adjusted for standard construction inflation measures and considering items removed from Butler Park on account of the delay, fulfilling the City's commitments under the Jim Smith financial plan will exceed $20 million.

[35][36] Still, the car rental tax revenue stream could allow recovery from all these shortfalls if spent as voters directed.