Beltline officials are readying plans to add a long-awaited park in Westview that will become a new focal point along the Westside Trail.
Driving the news: A $2.2 million federal grant has put Enota Park within reach after years of planning the park’s look and feel, pulling together funding and… waiting.
- Clyde Higgs, the CEO of the nonprofit that’s tasked with designing and building the Beltline, told an Atlanta City Council committee this week that his team wants to break ground on the 8-acre greenspace expansion in early 2024.
What they’re saying: Dustin Mitchell-Scott, president of the Westview Community Organization, told Axios the new park could be a “point of pride” for the neighborhood and help its growing business district.
- “All we’ve seen is higher taxes, higher home prices, people being pushed out in the neighborhood,” he said. “But we haven’t really seen a lot of the upside of the Beltline. And I think this could be one of those.”
- The new funding, increased focus and renewed communications with Beltline officials have eased some Westview residents’ frustrations after the long limbo between the creation of the park plans and present day, Mitchell-Scott said.
Why it matters: Enota Park will grow out of Enota Place, a 0.3-acre playground primarily accessible to nearby single-family residences and bounded on the north by I-20.
- Expanding the park turns an overgrown ravine into a community and reflection space and creates a grand entrance to Westview directly from the Beltline trail.
Details: Plans created in 2019 call for blending old-school park features — multipurpose fields and half-court basketball, for example — with public art and stream restoration.
- Crews will clean up a tributary of Proctor Creek running through the wooded property as a water feature. Planned boardwalks will bring people closer to the stream.
- The result will be a roughly $14 million project that improves and preserves the property’s forest and offers a splash pad, playground and other features that nearby KIPP Strive students and West End residents could use.
What’s next: Beltline officials have started the permitting process to begin construction work, Higgs said. A capital campaign to help build the park is still underway, says Rob Brawner of the Atlanta Beltline Partnership, the fundraising arm of the Beltline.
