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Green for Green
Park Pride grants total $2.3m; mayor creates 'green cabinet’
The Adams Park boardwalk.
By Collin Kelley
Twenty-four communities across
the City of Atlanta and unincorporated
DeKalb County will share $2.3 million
for improvements to neighborhood parks
thanks to grant awards from Park Pride.
This is Park Pride’s largest grant cycle in
history, exceeding the prior year’s awards
by nearly $ 1 million. The City of Atlanta is
the program’s most recent funder, with the
Atlanta City Council approving $700,000
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for park improvement projects in low-
income communities.
“Every neighborhood in our city
deserves access to quality greenspace,
regardless of income or zip code. With this
historic slate of grant awards from Park
Pride, we will make progress on that goal,”
Mayor Andre Dickens said. “I believe
our parks have the ability to establish
community connection and the power
to shape and define the character of our
neighborhoods. I am honored to continue
building our strong partnership with Park
Pride.”
Parks receiving grants include: Adair
Park, Atlanta Memorial Park, Beaverbrook
Park, Candler Park, Center Hill Park,
Central Park, Chastain Memorial Park,
Cleopas Johnson Park, DeKalb Memorial
Park, Grant Park, Herbert Taylor and
Daniel Johnson Parks, Historic Fourth
Ward Park, Oakland Cemetery, Lang-
Carson Park, Lenox-Wildwood Park,
Lindsay Street Park, Lillian Cooper
Shepherd Park, Melvin Drive Park, Peace
Park, Sara J. Gonzalez Park, Lucius D.
Simon Memorial Park, Springdale Park,
West End Park, and Zonolite Park.
Dickens also recently announced
the creation of a new advisory council
he’s dubbed the “green cabinet.” The
council has representatives from 13 local
environmental groups who will advise the
mayor on the city’s long-range parks and
recreation plan adopted last year.
The cabinet will also advise the city
on a parks and recreation infrastructure
bond that will be put to voters in May
and on how to use the South River Forest
greenspace adjacent to the controversial
Public Safety Training Center approved by
the city last year. HD
City acquires land for
public park to access
Chattahoochee River
By Collin Kelley
The City of Atlanta has acquired nine
acres of land for a new public park that
will eventually have direct access to the
Chattahoochee River.
Mayor Andre Dickens said in a
statement that the Atlanta Department of
Parks and Recreation will develop what
is being called Lower Paul Park due to
its location along Lower Paul Avenue in
the Riverside neighborhood in northwest
Atlanta.
Purchase of the land was made
possible thanks to a partnerships with The
Conservation Fund and Park Pride, two
of the organizations who are members of
the mayor’s newly announced Greenspace
Advisory Council.
“Acquiring this land allows the city to
provide our residents with public access to
the Chattahoochee River and offer needed
parkland to the Riverside community —
all while preserving beautiful greenspace
for future generations,” Dickens said in a
statement.
The assemblage for Lower Paul Park
consists of 17 greenspace properties.
Through a partnership with The
Conservation Fund, three parcels were
donated for the assemblage by Georgia
Power. The city’s purchase contributes to
the Trust for Public Land’s Chattahoochee
Riverlands vision — a linear, 53-mile river
corridor network of Greenways, Blueways
and parks to reunite the Chattahoochee
River with metro Atlanta.
Regional Counsel and Georgia and
Alabama Associate State Director, Stacy
Funderburke said, “The Conservation
Fund is proud to once again partner with
the City of Atlanta Parks Department to
make the community vision for a new
greenspace along the Chattahoochee River
in Northwest Atlanta a reality. This five-
year long property assemblage will now
result in a vibrant new greenspace for the
Riverside neighborhood and greatly increase
access and recreational connectivity to the
Chattahoochee River.”
The Atlanta City Council authorized
the purchase of 15 of the parcels in 2021
and additional funding was made possible
in part due to grants received by Park Pride
and an EPA/Brownfield grant received by
The Conservation Fund. Georgia Power
and Riverwalk Atlanta donated properties
toward the park assemblage as well.
While park specific features are being
determined through a park visioning plan
led by Park Pride, through continued
collaboration with other property owners
and stakeholders, the park is anticipated to
include a Chattahoochee River Trail with
direct access to the Chattahoochee River
and a connection to the Whetstone Creek
PATH multi-use Trail. DD
24 APRIL 2022 | EC]
AtlantalntownPaper.com