The popular lakeside hangout The Pier on Lake Austin is hoisting up the anchors after 47 years in business.
The restaurant and outdoor music venue lost its lease to new developers. The Pier will close for good on September 30.
The new development will be a three-story attraction, with the ground floor remaining a casual restaurant. So while patrons may be able to dock their boat and order a burger and fries, the volleyball tournaments might become a thing of the past.
“They envisioned the lower floor to be one suited for the bathing suit people, and the second floor is considered to be more of an upscale type of restaurant, and they want the third floor to be an upscale restaurant,” co-owner Mike Walsh said.
Now owners Alan Cameron, Larry Spector and Walsh are searching for a new location. Walsh said they’re eyeing two spots on Lake Austin and Lake Travis.
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No tears for this pier
News 8 Austin's Bob Robuck reports from Lake Austin.
 
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Though they may relocate, Walsh said nothing can beat the original.
"The governor can go and stand right next to a biker and have a good conversation, and neither one of them knows the other, and neither do they care," he said.
Some of final acts scheduled for August and September are Leon Russel, Big Brother and the Holding Company and Cross Canadian Ragweed.
The Pier opened as a hard-to-find fishing lodge in 1928. It was later a speakeasy during Prohibition, and bartenders would toss the liquor into the lake if any authorities happened to stop by.
In 1958, the business was given the name The Pier on Lake Austin. It was then purchased in 1981 and turned into a restaurant and outdoor music venue.
