Three design concepts presented for park design

The Atlanta City Development Corporation held its second public meeting to discuss a reimagining of Louise Street Park last Thursday at Mattie Lanier Richey Center at 6:00 p.m.

Miranda Johnson, ACDC executive director gave a warm welcome to the public who attended the second public meeting regarding the curation of a master plan for the revitalization of the park. Johnson also thanked the board advisory committee on the project, which includes City Manager Danica Porter, Shannon Jones, Anna Puckett, Donna Rice, and Randal Wilson.

“This is going to be a really exciting meeting as we get to look at some visual aides on three different designs, full of different ideas on what we could possibly do out at Louise Street Park,” Johnson said, before introducing the meeting facilitator and Rick Leisner, a landscape architect with ‘Norris Design’ out of Dallas.

Leisner was accompanied by landscape design teammates Grant Pasowicz and Suzy Su.

“We basically have two groups of firms that are on our team,” Leisner said. “We have some engineers (with) MTG out of Texarkana. So they’ve been assisting us with developing some estimates and looking at drainage so we really want to make sure that we thank them.”

MTG engineers will be at the third and final public meeting where attendees will be presented with a final presentation of the park’s revitalization plan.

Leisner explained that the first public meeting was about setting goals and objectives.

“From that input, we’ve then developed a series of concepts for the master plan–Three different individual concepts,” Leisner said. ” It's not so much that you will like one concept and all the things that are in it, but it’s hopeful you will like components of parts of them. We want to hear what those components are (and) we’ll talk about them.”

Leisner and ACDC also had a short survey, to help cull the most popular and feasible concepts from the three master plans presented Thursday, in order to develop what Leisner called a single preferred master plan concept.

Leisner then moved on to talk about the pre-design components and the extreme helpfulness of the advisory committee, which Leisner and his team have met with monthly, he said.

The landscape architect stressed the importance of having input from the local community and thanked those who have participated thus far.

A good detailed look at the existing park and its status shows that Louise Street Park has a spectacular environment, according to Leisner.

“We see the trees, the terrain, the history that’s there, the playground and the potential,” Leisner said. “It’s a very stunning site. It has tremendous opportunity for the community.”

The revamp for the park could bring in new economic opportunities for the city, he added.

The three master plan design concepts showcased were titled ‘The Great Lawn’; ‘Water Mosaic’; and ‘The Ellipse’. These designs should be available to view on the park Website mycitypark- atlantatx.com.

Two older concrete pads that once functioned as tennis and basketball courts provide an opportunity to re- use the concrete for other functions within some of the concepts, while other concepts might see one or both taken out for a green space in the future, Leisner said–especially taking one out to make use of the amphitheater “You have a pretty healthy creek we know that goes through that site,” Leisner said. “Actually there's two of them.” Due to the influx in rain, Leisner said it became apparent that the creek does flood, so better-sized culverts would result in keeping drainage in the creek.

There used to be a three-day watermelon festival that was very popular in the 40’s and 50’s and a swimming pool in the ‘70’s at the park. The WPA amphitheater also holds a lot of historical significance.

The potential for walkways was discussed, as well, to help make the park more readily accessible to folks with disabilities and bring more people to enjoy the site.

Landscape architects were able to source a large sampling of community input to help put together the three master plan concepts that were unveiled. One source was the local elementary and middle school students who sent in a lot of input and graphics on elements they would like to see at the park, which Leisner and fellow architects found impressive.

Videos and animations of the student videos can be found on the Website listed above. Another way Leisner and his team were able to source community input was at the last meeting, where they had placed poster boards on the wall with a series of questions and answers before providing community members with sticky dots to place on answers that best fit each individual's conceptual idea of what Louise Street Park should look like.

“That’s how the selection process occurred and we were able to record some information,” Leisner said. “Tonight’s recorded information is going to be on your questionnaire.”

The questionnaire focused on each person’s likes and dislikes of the three master plan concepts presented at the meeting.

As for the concepts themselves, each featured very different ideas, which the questionnaire will help Leisner and his team boil down into a functional master plan, as he said some may like certain aspects of one plan combined with certain aspects of a different plan.

Concept I ‘The Great Lawn’: A large green lawn fit for lawn-chair seating for musical performances, a free play area, volleyball, and more. Three pavilions are located in diverse locations. What’s known as a nature play and climbing timber structure playground. Removes a section of existing road and uses that land for green space, also allowing for the largest free play area. The WPA Historic Walls and site are recognized with a commemorative plaque. This concept has a simple concrete pad as a stage (with no roof) Concept II ‘Water Mosaic’: Features a children’s Splash Pad. Three pavilions in the open lawn area. A network of walking paths in the open lawn. A Butterfly Trail zigzagging in the woods One existing concrete pad modified into a designated parking area The WPA Historic Walls and Site includes a restored pavilion for community performances with a plaque defining its Atlanta history.

This plan does not, however, improve parking at the existing children’s playground.

Concept III ‘The Ellipse’: Open lawn is shaped in an ellipse with a sidewalk around it. Uses one existing concrete pad and modifies it into two pickleball courts Two pavilions Two horseshoe pits and tables/chairs with built-in checker/chess boards The restroom building is located near the children’s playground. No proposed improvements to the WPA Historic Walls and Site The concept includes the longest pedestrian walking trail at just over a half-mile. Local school-aged kids were very strong on wanting a splash pad and also put in requests for biking, walking trails, disc golf, and restroom facilities as number one, Leisner said, adding to input from the first public meeting.

Restroom facilities can be pretty cost-effective, according to Leisner. Most people polled were looking for a mid-sized pavilion to hold from 24-30 people, he added. “Splash pads are modestly affordable,” Leisner said. “They can be built in a series of phases. You can put in three or four different water components and then add three or four over the years.”

Building in phases is common when it comes to most park improvement plans. “This is probably a good time to mention, we are talking about creating a master plan,” Leisner said. “The master plan is all about knowing, either through fundraising efforts or other processes (like) getting a state grant you then are able to go out and build components to that master plan.”

“You might not put in a pavilion for ten years, but you know exactly where you want that pavilion to go,” he added. “It’s creating that vision of putting together the elements that you want.”

The third meeting, which is to be announced, will be when a preferred concept will be unveiled to the public to find out if concepts were taken in the right direction for the park’s redesign.

Leisner has said that phasing will also be discussed at the third meeting, regarding the preferred concept.