At our July 7 Transform Westside Summit, directors from The Trust for Public Land, Park Pride and West Atlanta Watershed Alliance discussed two of the Westside’s newest parks – Rodney Cook, Sr. Park and Boone Park West.

“We understand how important a high-quality park is to a community,” said Jay Wozniak, Director of Urban Parks for Trust for Public Land’s Georgia office, a nonprofit organization that facilitates and funds the creation of parks and preserved lands.

The Trust for Public Land will create Rodney Cook, Sr. Park in Historic Vine City. “We want to honor the legacy of the neighborhoods’ unique history by providing 16 statues that honor Civil Rights activists,” said Wozniak.

The innovative, dynamic 16-acre neighborhood park will provide sustainable venues for a multitude of recreational activities: multi-use sports courts, fitness zone area, outdoor education, a boardwalk over a pond and a performance stage.

The park will also relieve local flooding and offer opportunities for job training and environmental education. Cook Park will include green infrastructure components designed to redirect surface run-off to reduce flooding in surrounding areas. Ten million gallons of water will be stored in the park, managing storm water from 150 acres surrounding the site. The wet pond with aerating water features will provide capacity relief as an integrated amenity within the park.

Andrew White, Director of Park Visioning at Park Pride, a nonprofit that helps Atlanta communities develop and get the most of out of their green spaces, is excited about creating Boone Park West in English Avenue.

“Parks are not nouns, they are verbs. There are so many things that they do,” White said.

Boone Park West will also reduce storm water flooding in homes and streets using green infrastructure. The 3.5-acre park will promote community engagement, job training for residents and environmental education.

The park’s green infrastructure will treat storm water where it falls before it goes into pipes, which will slow down water and prevent erosion. The park will hold 7 million gallons of water.

The groundbreaking for Boone Park West will take place November 2017. The park is set to open July 2018.

To view the full PowerPoint Presentation, click here.

To read the SaportaReport’s coverage of the July 7 Summit, click here.