Centennial of National Park Foundation celebrated at University of Texas

The National Park Service turns 100 this year and it and the National Park Foundation brought the celebration to the University of Texas-Austin campus.

It's part of a new event series called Park Exchange which is designed to bring parks to life in urban areas and to show the diversity of national parks experiences. Each event will convey or exchange a national park experience to one of America's urban centers. Park Exchange is part of the Find Your Park movement.

On May 3, former top ranked tennis player Andy Roddick helped bring Redwood National Park to life in Austin with the Redwood Virtual Kinect Experience. He and others "transformed" into a redwood tree in real time through interactive motion sensor technology. It was then projected onto the UT Tower.

In a press release, Roddick said, "I’m honored to join the National Park Foundation to celebrate the National Park Service centennial and help kick-off the first Park Exchange event here in Austin."

"I grew up going to the Everglades and look forward to one day taking my son. Preserving and protecting the national parks – our nation’s greatest treasures – for future generations is an important movement and one that resonates particularly now that I’m a father,” Roddick added.

The UT event was the first in the Park Exchange series. Two additional events will take place later this summer. 

In June, Chicago will experience the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park. New York City will experience Thomas Edison National Historical Park in August.

To get more information from the National Park Service go here.

For more information from the National Park Foundation you can go here.