In football terms, the goalposts have moved up significantly when it comes to building the latest jewel in the Atlanta Beltline’s planned necklace of greenspaces.
Meghan Injaychock, a Beltline senior landscape architect and project manager, said during a recent update meeting the most active section of Westview’s Enota Park is now scheduled to open prior to 2026 FIFA World Cup matches in Atlanta next June, pending delays related to weather or other factors.
Earlier Beltline schedules called for opening the park late next year. Efforts to expand Enota Park date back nearly 20 years, and Beltline’s multi-tiered remake officially broke ground in April.
Envisioned as a gateway between the Westside Trail and Westview, the reimagined and expanded park will span 8 acres—or about half the size of Historic Fourth Ward Park on the Eastside Trail. It’s previously been described as “signature” and “transformative” by Beltline leadership.
Injaychock said multiple construction milestones are in place that the Beltline is trying to reach by next summer.
As shown on a late-2023 map, the Enota Park project’s location adjacent to the Westside Trail and Interstate 20 on Atlanta’s southwest side. Atlanta Beltline Inc.
Most significantly, those include completing what’s known as the Enota Park lower parcel, where the majority of its attractions—a splash pad, a large multi-use field with a solar-shade pavilion, half-court basketball facilities, and restrooms, among other facets—will be located.
One unique component at Enota Park will be a boardwalk that winds through towering tree canopy near a stream that’s recently been uncovered and cleared.
“I have never actually seen this stream—and now you can see it running, which is very exciting,” Injaychock told meeting attendees. “We’re working on a [boardwalk] handrail that really blends into the background versus taking away from the view.”
Pilings and supports for the Enota Park boardwalk amenity. Atlanta Beltline Inc.
Preview of the park’s boardwalk section (pending railings) near the Beltline’s Westside Trail in Westview. Atlanta Beltline Inc.
Construction of the park’s splash pad, restroom building, and a parks maintenance building is on tap. Throughout the park, lighting, cameras, and several connections to the Westside Trail are being installed.
Tree-planting around the park site could start as early as late this winter. Beltline officials are hoping to deliver all aspects of the park by September next year, Injaychock said.
An attendee at last week’s meeting asked for details regarding what types of swings will be offered at Enota Park. Expect toddler swings, accessible swings, and larger disc-style “family swings,” per Injaychock.
Drop-off zones are being constructed to coincide with on-street parking, but no dedicated parking lot is in the plans. “We hope you take the Beltline there,” Injaychock noted.
Previously, Enota Park was little more than a .3-acre playground surrounded by woods.
Efforts to expand the park first showed promise back in 2007, when the Trust for Public Land began acquiring six different properties to add about 4 acres. The initiative gained momentum in 2017, when the U.S. Department of the Interior gifted a $600,000 grant. The following year, Beltline leaders selected Peachtree Corners-based engineers Pond & Co. to lead designs. Efforts to find a construction manager (Reeves Young was picked) and finalize permitting began in early 2024.
Beltline officials have said the park project will cost around $14 million.
A “sprayground plaza” and new structures planned at Enota Park. Atlanta Beltline Inc.; designs, Pond & Co.
Rendering depicting a multipurpose playscape and solar shade structure at Enota Park. Atlanta Beltline Inc.; designs, Pond & Co.
Public funding has been sourced from the Atlanta Beltline Tax Allocation District, the State Fiscal Recovery Fund, and the city’s Moving Atlanta Forward Infrastructure Bond. Previous philanthropic donations have come from more than a dozen foundations, per the Beltline, including the Home Depot Foundation, The Coca-Cola Foundation, and Truist Trusteed Foundations.
Early this year, Atlanta Beltline Partnership officials tallied another $1.85 million to help get the park project started. Those donors were identified as a “Friend of the Atlanta Beltline” ($750,000), Georgia Power ($500,000), Norfolk Southern ($250,000), The Fraser-Parker Foundation ($250,000), and an anonymous contributor ($100,000).
Head up to the gallery for more Enota Park context, recent site photos, and a preview of what’s to come.
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