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  #81  
Old Posted Sep 24, 2008, 4:31 PM
GTviajero81 GTviajero81 is offline
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Originally Posted by ATLaffinity View Post
all things for children which makes high-rise living possible for families.

plus we don't have convenient subway stops like NYC. I can't get on the 5th/Spring MARTA and take the purple line to 10th/Monroe.

i heard mention once of Kim King Associates plans for a park in the land across from The Cheetah. Not sure if they still own that property.
Oy, but one can take the Georgia Tech Trolley from 5th/Spring to the 10th Street MARTA station...what afraid to walk a few blocks to Piedmont Park thereafter?

See folks, research for yourselves the abundance of transit options and you'd be surprised...it's getting there.
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  #82  
Old Posted Sep 24, 2008, 5:13 PM
ATLaffinity ATLaffinity is offline
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Oy, but one can take the Georgia Tech Trolley from 5th/Spring to the 10th Street MARTA station...what afraid to walk a few blocks to Piedmont Park thereafter?

See folks, research for yourselves the abundance of transit options and you'd be surprised...it's getting there.
i don't think we're disagreeing about much. i simply think a couple small parks would really "activate" the area. and walking to Piedmont Park from Spring St is a hike for a family.

i ride the trolley. i even use the 5th Street bridge as a park (i almost kicked a soccer ball onto the connector so it has its limitations for ball play!).
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  #83  
Old Posted Sep 24, 2008, 9:29 PM
smArTaLlone smArTaLlone is offline
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Also there was an article in The Technique (GT's student newspaper) which specifically mentioned that Georgia Tech is very near to running out of space to build anything and has essentially reached its eastern border (Spring Street). Therefore one may infer that the mid-rise building and parking lot and in the area bounded by 5th, Spring, and W. P'tree (not including the lofts on the Abercrombie border) would be built up into usable space for the Institute and not a pocket park.

And what is this about wanting to set out a picnic in a park and the horror of having to go ALL the way to Piedmont Park? As someone who grew up in the NYC ( I mention this as NYC was cited a few times as a place with urban pocket parks), these neighbourhood parks did NOT have picnic areas and the like. There were swings, see-saws, basketball courts, tennis courts, and monkey-bars. The ground was generally concrete or cobblestone. What made them parks in NYC-eyes were the presence of large trees. If we ever felt a need to picnic it was considered a treat to go to the larger parks, i.e. Central, Prospect, Van Cortlandt, Flushing Meadows, among others. If you live in midtown and don't want to go to Piedmont then go to Georgia Tech! There is plenty of greenspace there and if one is respectable acting and looking (i.e., not using the grounds of the Institute as one's personal toilet) then one can relax there to one's content. There is Yellowjacket Park in the centre of the school that provides plenty of skyline views and sunshine as well as at least two acres or so of grassy field.

I argue that due to the climate and topography of the areas along Peachtree Street that we ought to focus on REDUCING the spacing between venues. Note well that Peachtree is on a ridge and therefore nearly all roads lead UP to P'tree....parks are great but I fear that they really wouldn't be used as often as we would like to think. Another reason as to why not? We have not, nor is it likely that we will ever reach the critical mass necessary for the making such urban greenspaces actually worth the trouble. Atlanta is a interesting animal in the sense that although we lack natural boundaries, we still have a freeway on the west side (our concrete river), a university, a globally-known studio and company HQ and Atlantic Station (all going no where anytime soon), a freeway on the north (dividing Midtown and Brookwood), the city's major park and botanical gardens,a historic district, and Freedom Parkway ( a bit of a stretch but who knows in the future?) on the east side, and a freeway on the south side. These delineated area is quite walkable and should be the focus of intense development. With the development of the park in the Old 4th Ward area and along the Beltline this should suffice for parks in the sense of what was mentioned earlier: places for picnic-ing, etc.

Personally one way that we could preserve the canopy within the city centre is to remake the major thoroughfares with tree-lined medians, and to get wild for a moment, palm tree-lined! Certain palms do quite well here (reference many properties in the Druid Hills/Lake Claire/Candler Park which have a lovely amount of palms) and would leave a mark in the mind of a winter-weary visitor to our city in the winter. Palm trees automatically place the idea of vacation spot in many people's minds...we ought to capitalise on that!

Ok enough of the wild dreams now.
Cheers.
I was 100% with you until you said Palm trees.
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  #84  
Old Posted Oct 2, 2008, 9:22 PM
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They're doing some massive earth moving on the southern section of the new park. The whole stretch along Ralph McGill is getting work. Saw some huge water drainage pipes going in too. I had no idea this was starting so quickly. Awesome!

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  #85  
Old Posted Oct 2, 2008, 9:40 PM
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  #86  
Old Posted Oct 2, 2008, 9:42 PM
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They're doing some massive earth moving on the southern section of the new park. The whole stretch along Ralph McGill is getting work. Saw some huge water drainage pipes going in too. I had no idea this was starting so quickly. Awesome!
Say, I was over there today for a doctor's appointment and wondered what all that was. Very cool!

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  #87  
Old Posted Oct 2, 2008, 11:39 PM
smArTaLlone smArTaLlone is offline
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They're doing some massive earth moving on the southern section of the new park. The whole stretch along Ralph McGill is getting work. Saw some huge water drainage pipes going in too. I had no idea this was starting so quickly. Awesome!
Actually groundbreaking for the park is in a couple of weeks. I believe what you saw may have been site prep on yet another "luxury" apartment project called Six60 @ Old Fourth Ward.


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  #88  
Old Posted Oct 3, 2008, 7:50 PM
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Dogwood Festival will return to Piedmont Park

Peachtree Road Race participants will be allowed to use meadow.

By ERIC STIRGUS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Friday, October 03, 2008

The Atlanta Dogwood Festival can return to Piedmont Park next year, Atlanta officials said Friday.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race also will be permitted to end its race on 10th Street near Monroe Drive, and then participants can use the meadow in Piedmont Park, the officials said.

City officials met Friday morning with organizers of those two events and three others to plot out where Atlanta’s largest events can be held.

The events were forced out of Piedmont Park last year by drought conditions. Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs Commissioner Dianne Harnell Cohen said the city still needs to limit major events in Piedmont because of the ongoing drought and concerns that large crowds could do major damage to the grounds.

City officials wanted to work out agreements with the events to avoid using a lottery to decide which events could use the Midtown park. Organizers of three of the events told city officials they were willing to use other venues.

The Atlanta Pride Festival agreed to use Central Park and the Atlanta Civic Center. The Atlanta Jazz Festival will hold its three-day event next year at Grant Park. Screen on the Green will use Centennial Olympic Park.
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  #89  
Old Posted Oct 4, 2008, 7:13 PM
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Actually groundbreaking for the park is in a couple of weeks. I believe what you saw may have been site prep on yet another "luxury" apartment project called Six60 @ Old Fourth Ward.

I hadn't heard of that project... and I think you're absolutely right. The earth-moving was on McGill from Willoughby to one building lot west of Ashley. Hopefully they are coordinating the topography changes with the park folks.

Thanks for the info
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  #90  
Old Posted Oct 6, 2008, 9:25 AM
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Chris Creech Chris Creech is offline
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Speaking of all the festivals trying to find homes. Maybe Pride can move to that North Avenue Park since it's designed with festival space in mind. That location down at the civici center just sucks (pardon the pun).
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  #91  
Old Posted Oct 20, 2008, 6:39 PM
ATLaffinity ATLaffinity is offline
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15th Street Plaza

After five years of planning and construction, Midtown Alliance is proud to celebrate the opening of the 15th Street Plaza. Midtown’s newest green space includes 30 Overcup Oak trees, new lighting, granite curbing, enhanced sidewalk areas, 88 French bistro chairs and tables and a Reading Room complete with a number of popular newspapers and magazines available to read free of charge.

OCTOBER 27-31 Lunchtime Entertainment
11:30 a.m.-1:30 pm.: Enjoy an eclectic mix of performances every day from Midtown's diverse arts community.

OCTOBER 31. Dedication Celebration
11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m. Join Midtown Alliance with special performances by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and The Honeybees, Savannah College of Art and Design's renowned singing ensemble.

Ceremony begins at noon. Seating is limited. Please RSVP by e-mail to Debra Brown by Oct. 29 at or call 404-892-4782.

Make it a picnic! Order a boxed lunch from Einstein's Brothers and pick it up at the Plaza on the 31st for the dedication event.
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  #92  
Old Posted Nov 6, 2008, 9:04 PM
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noguchi

Your eyes do not deceive, Noguchi Playscapes is being renovated! Piedmont Park is fortunate to have the only Playscapes of its kind by internationally renowned sculptor, designer, and architect Isamu Noguchi in the United States. Noguchi was officially opened in 19 76, so it's time for a little refreshing.

The City of Atlanta Office of Cultural Affairs has enlisted a top-notch conservation team to perform the professional restoration of Noguchi Playscapes. The work has begun and is scheduled for completion by mid-December.


glad to see this considering what a nightmare that playground had become.

this PDF is about the restoration is a good read on playgrounds in general
http://ocaatlanta.com/uploaded/misc/...t%20lowres.pdf
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  #93  
Old Posted Dec 4, 2008, 1:07 AM
smArTaLlone smArTaLlone is offline
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15th Street Plaza

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After five years of planning and construction, Midtown Alliance is proud to celebrate the opening of the 15th Street Plaza. Midtown’s newest green space includes 30 Overcup Oak trees, new lighting, granite curbing, enhanced sidewalk areas, 88 French bistro chairs and tables and a Reading Room complete with a number of popular newspapers and magazines available to read free of charge.
The Business Chronicle reports that similar pocket parks are planned for Pershing Point, Ponce and Peachtree, and at least two other locations that I can't remember at the moment.
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  #94  
Old Posted Dec 4, 2008, 2:22 AM
galaca galaca is offline
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Your eyes do not deceive, Noguchi Playscapes is being renovated! Piedmont Park is fortunate to have the only Playscapes of its kind by internationally renowned sculptor, designer, and architect Isamu Noguchi in the United States. Noguchi was officially opened in 19 76, so it's time for a little refreshing.

The City of Atlanta Office of Cultural Affairs has enlisted a top-notch conservation team to perform the professional restoration of Noguchi Playscapes. The work has begun and is scheduled for completion by mid-December.


glad to see this considering what a nightmare that playground had become.

this PDF is about the restoration is a good read on playgrounds in general
http://ocaatlanta.com/uploaded/misc/...t%20lowres.pdf
cool. i used to play on that slide all the time. i remember it always smelled funny inside.
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  #95  
Old Posted Jan 21, 2009, 2:57 AM
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Last edited by Andrea; Jan 26, 2009 at 6:56 PM.
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  #96  
Old Posted Feb 21, 2009, 2:52 AM
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Historic Fourth Ward Park update

From Maria Saporta's article in the ABC

Quote:
Atlanta’s newest up-and-coming park now has its own conservancy with an official board.

The new park — to be known as the Historic Fourth Ward Park — is under construction and will transform a 35-acre site of mostly surface parking lots into green space south of North Avenue at City Hall East.

The Historic Fourth Ward Park Conservancy is an outgrowth of the Park Area Coalition, which was formed last year on an interim basis following the groundbreaking of the park Oct. 15.

The conservancy’s board held its first general membership meeting Feb. 18 to help preserve, protect and improve Atlanta’s newest park (the first phase of which is expected to be completed in spring 2010).

John Perlman , a principal with Adams & Co., is serving as chair.

Other members include Bob Bridges of the Simpson Organization; Chris Brown of the Carter Center; landscape architect Cindy Cox ; neighborhood leader Liz Coyle ; Evan Cramer of Southeast Capital Partners; Julie Dalia of the Smith Dalia architectural firm and Markham Smith of the same firm; Isaac King Farris of the King Center; Georgia Power Co.’s Kevin Fletcher ; McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP’s Sharon Gay ; Wood Partners’ Scott Greenfield ; community activist Natalie Hall ; the Zoning Review Board’s Martha Porter Hall ; Matt Hicks of the Friends of Historic Fourth Ward Park; Sweet Auburn’s Charles Johnson ; Morsberger Group’s David Laube ; neighborhood leader Derek Matory ; Inman Park’s Jonathan Miller ; Lane Co.’s Ed Monarchik ; Sage Rhodes of AT&T Inc.; Fourth Ward Alliance’s Cedric Stallworth ; landscape designer Esther Stokes and neighborhood activist Kit Sutherland.
Interesting that another OFW park just finished a massive makeover: the corner of Angier and Parkway used to be a crappy basketball court with backboards but no hoops.... now it's a pretty nice park with play areas, paths, pagoda and a classic iron fence around the perimeter. Kwanza Hall has been focusing on this hood quite a bit.
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  #97  
Old Posted Mar 12, 2009, 3:41 AM
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New botanical garden deck

Looks like it's getting pretty close. Went to the GNPS meeting this month and they said that by May the old surface lot will be gone (to be a new garden area) and the only parking will be this new deck. It's built on the rather steep hillside to the east of the gardens just north of the tennis courts at Piedmont Park.





And here's a bonus shot over the oval which is getting new turf
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  #98  
Old Posted Mar 12, 2009, 4:55 AM
jurban8 jurban8 is offline
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Wow once the vegetation starts to grow on the deck it'll really be hidden - they did an awesome job!
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  #99  
Old Posted Mar 29, 2009, 3:23 PM
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Chris Creech Chris Creech is offline
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It's great to see the park construction coming along. The whole deck controversy thing was so riduculous. I'm dating myself but I remembe when I first moved to Atlanta there were no actual buildings, and the only structure was a 20' modular building that served as the office for the one person that worked there full time, and had a desk that would hold a couple of volunteers.
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  #100  
Old Posted Mar 29, 2009, 11:09 PM
cybele cybele is offline
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This was a big deal for the Parks Department. It's my understanding that several comparable cities didn't make the cut.

City Parks Department accredited
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