Second public meeting for park revamp is Thursday

The Atlanta City Development Corporation and Board of Directors will hold their second public meeting to discuss renovations to Louise Street Park on Thursday at Mattie Lanier Richey Center at 6:00 p.m.

This is the second of three public meetings where interested parties can come to provide input on the plan and stay informed about the project, according to Miranda Johnson, executive director of Atlanta City Development Corporation.

“I’m really hoping for high attendance at this meeting because the public will enjoy getting to look at three different versions of what the park could be,” Johnson said. “Having great visuals presented of different possible improvements will help people to kind of see what they like and don’t like and then provide feedback on the best mix of amenities and uses for our Louise Street City Park.”

Johnson has said the ACDC budgeted to complete a master plan for the park, which was discussed last month.

“Our board of directors recognized the need for repairs and upgrades, but rather than umping into piece-by-piece improvements, we thought it would be most responsible to have a clear, comprehensive view for the park that the community could be a part of creating.”

At last months meeting, Johnson warmly welcomed attendees and introduced project director Rick Leisner, with ‘Norris Design’ out of Dallas.

Leisner is a landscape architect, and is joined by other visionaries from Norris Design, including fellow Landscape Architect Emily Larkin and Landscape Designer Grant Pasowicz.

Leisner said at the May meeting that Norris Design will also team up with Civil Engineer Kayla Wood, with MTG Engineers out of Texarkana.

Wood, he said, will assist with costing figures, constructability and other specific components as the project progresses.

Last month, Leisner went over existing conditions, and got input from the public about what is wanted in a reimagined city park– such as differing concepts and facilities and how to phase them in.

Johnson and Leisner both agreed that the second meeting on Thursday might be the most important meeting for the public to attend, as it’s the most engaging meeting to be at.

“We will have three different designs for the park–totally different, very unique–and it’s important that you are there so that you can give us input into the likes and dislikes of those different concepts,” Leisner said. “We take all the information from (this) meeting and boil it into what is a preferred concept.”

The third meeting, which will come up tentatively in the next month or so is where they will present the preferred concept to the public to ask if they took the concept in the right direction for a redesign of the park, he told attendees in May.

“We will even talk about phasing at that third (meeting) for the preferred concept,” he said.

A date for the third meeting will be announced soon.

At the first meeting back in May, Leisner did a presentation to go over the status and conditions of the park.

Leisner was particularly taken by the trees in and around the park, calling them spectacular.

“You get all this nice shade,” he said. “Whoever sited the children’s play equipment in this area–it’s in the right location, with abundant shade.”

The first meeting discussion brought up accessibility, which could prove challenging, but planners said they were up to the task and said they will certainly be looking to gain more accessibility.

The large concrete area was being looked at to see how it can be utilized for sports or other facilities, Leisner said at the last meeting.

“Again the three concepts we will try to utilize some of the areas and the hard surfaces and other concepts we may look at other options,” Leisner said, adding that the two creeks that flow through the park were nice, with very minimal drainage issues that have been well maintained by the city.

“And, again, the trees,” he said. “Just spectacular trees. We want to make sure they can stay healthy, so we want to try to make sure that certain facilities don’t get too close to some of them. Trails, benches, picnic tables, and maybe a pavilion are all very nice ideas.”

A historic amphitheater, he said of the brick structure at the helm of the park, actually helps retain the soil with its walls.

Unfortunately, the area is steep and would need some improvement to make it more safe, he said, to which many agreed.

“The whole reason behind the park master plan is that we know the park needs some improvements but instead of going in and doing a random new piece of equipment … we really wanted a comprehensive vision for how we could make the park a really great park,” Johnson said. “We wanted the opportunity to engage the community so we could know what our residents really want, what are the true needs, and then also look at the feasibility and see what can our city manage overtime.”

Johnson is hopeful that many community members will attend Thursdays second meeting.

“What can we build, what can we take care of, what do we want, what do we need,” Johnson said, to sum it up. “That’s why we’re here, looking at some of these ambiguous spaces and trying to get a better total vision for the space” Leisner agreed as they moved the presentation along to talk about culling down a master vision, which Leisner said ultimately seemed would really just need some surgical changes to make a good park a better park.

One point of agreement that everyone seemed to have was the dislike for port-a-potties and the desire for a restroom facility.

“On the city park analysis, right now it has two entry points,” Leisner said. “The entry point to the north is not on city property.”

The Louise Street Park has two roads–an upper and a lower road–with the upper road providing access to some nearby residences.

“Do you need both roads,” Leisner said. “I don’t know. Our concepts are going to explore the option.”

The parking experience at the park was described as more natural, which can be nice but could be somewhat of a safety issue with it being uncontrolled as the park becomes more crowded after improvements are made, they said.

A trail system was mentioned as a possibility, especially for parents pushing strollers; The large canopy trees were mentioned as significantly important for the shade they provide and Leisner again praised the two creeks that flow through the park, remarking that only one area needed a little fix–nothing too drastic from an engineering standpoint.

The history of the park was briefly mentioned, in which it was acknowledged that many large events used to be held there–so large in fact that the entire length of the street would have parking alongside.

“The WPA amphitheater is part of that (historical component),” Leisner noted, adding that Louise Street originally changed to four lanes because of the park’s historic popularity.

“Friday Saturday and Sunday they would have seed spitting contests, dances, parades, beauty contests,” Leisner said, adding that the park was initially funded or established in 1937 before thanking Marvin Weindorff for sending in interesting historical articles on the park.

Leisner recognized the local school district and lauded the abilities of the children who helped design their own concepts of their ideal park by filling in a space shaped as the park with their three big concepts.

Some small changes to lighting and signage were mentioned for a small, surgical upgrade, though Leisner remarked that the lighting in the park is still pretty nice as it is currently.

The landscape architect said he was highly impressed at the first meeting with the local school district’s response to joining in on the upgrade.

“We’ve never had a client in my 25-plus years that has had such success with the local school district,” he said.

“I cannot tell you how pleasant and wonderful this was. Over 250 children have provided us input into this, and Miranda tells me there is even more.”

Johnson said the 250 children were just from the middle school and that the primary and elementary students also participated.

“Just, fabulous,” Leisner said.

“Really great input (from students) and some really good ideas, too.”

Leisner, Johnson, Mayor James Brooks, and the board advisory committee for the project–which includes City Manager Danica Porter, Shannon Jones, Anna Puckett, Donna Rice, and Randal Wilson–welcomed the public to participate in a survey to help narrow down concept ideas before showing an impressive video made by Atlanta Middle Schoolers that showcased their ideas and input.

To view some of the kiddos’ impressive concept art for the park’s revamp and keep informed on the latest news on Louise Street Park, check out the Website mycitypark- atlantatx.com.

Thursday’s meeting at Mattie Lanier RIchey Center at 6 p.m. is open to the public.

“We hope to see a great turnout for our next two public meetings so the community can express themselves and really take ownership of this master plan,” Johnson said.