The Chastain Park Conservancy has plans to transform 40 acres of unused land in the heart of the park into usable greenspace. $5 million in donations has already been raised to fund the effort that will create new usable park space that is larger in size than the Atlanta Botanical Gardens.
The conservancy, a nonprofit whose mission is to maintain and improve the Buckhead park, intends to spend $9.8 million to turn the Palisades part of the park into a usable greenspace. Since the park’s opening in 1940, it has been a passive portion with no accessibility for human beings. At 268 acres, Chastain is one of the city’s largest parks.
According to plans provided to Buckhead.com by the conservancy, Chastain has 60 acres of unsightly, inaccessible land that can be transformed into greenspace. Initially, the conservancy will transform 40 acres of its Palisades area into greenspace. The “Palisades” area to be developed is near the center of the park and is situated on a high bluff above Nancy Creek. Another 20 acres on the northern tip of the park is being called the Northwoods, and is on the table for additional passive greenspace.
According to information provided by the conservancy, the Palisades project is part of a new capital campaign that will cost a total of $12.5 million, and $5 million has been raised thus far. $3 million of the current total came from a single donor. Conservancy President and CEO Rosa McHugh said the rest of the campaign funds will be spent on pedestrian safety initiatives throughout the park.
Of Palisades, she said, “For me personally, what’s really attractive about the project is Chastain Park is an amazing 268-acre park, but there’s no real park within the park. This project will bring in 40 acres of greenspace to the park.”
She added that the park’s current setup means most of the land is programmed by sports such as golf, tennis, swimming, baseball, softball, and basketball.
The Palisades project has been on the conservancy’s to-do project list since it was included in the 2008 master plan.
“It was approved by the [Atlanta] City Council and served as a vision plan for all the projects throughout the park,” McHugh said. “The Palisades comes out of that plan, and it was reintroduced as we worked on the update of that plan. We had a table for phasing of these projects, and that one remained as the first one to complete.”
The conservancy’s previous capital campaign, which collected $5.2 million, launched in 2014 and ended in 2016, paid for Play Chastain, a new playground, and Walk Chastain, new pedestrian trails. McHugh calls Palisades “a game changer.”
“This will give people an ability to throw a Frisbee, meet a friend, or have a picnic,” she said. “We did a density study and showed that density continues to increase, and there’s some kudzu in there. It’s not a healthy environment in there, so what this will allow us to do is create a more natural environment and allow the community to use it.”
J.P. Matzigkeit, a conservancy co-founder and member of its comprehensive plan committee, said Palisades will be similar in size to the Blue Heron Nature Preserve nearby and the Atlanta Botanical Garden in Midtown, which each are 30 acres.
“If you look at the size of the project of the Palisades, it is to reclaim [40] acres of land from kudzu and turn it into park space,” he said. “… But [40] acres is a lot of land and the opportunity to add that land as park space is an incredible opportunity. Think about what [40] acres of contiguous land would cost. We’re opening up $50 million of land where people can enjoy it and use it as intended, as park land. The Palisades project is an opportunity to get park land.”
Palisades will include three community greens totaling +/- 3 acres, a one-plus-mile stretch of soft trails, a bridge over Nancy Creek, and stream bank and wildlife habitat restoration. In the future, a 20,000-square-foot event space is expected to be added to host community events such as weddings and educational programs.
“There are three fields; the main one would be an open field,” McHugh said. “… The second one is smaller, and we would like it to have some natural play, such as undulating hills where kids can play. The upper one will be a model site for native planting. We hope to have trails throughout that greenspace.”
She said she’s given several tours of the Palisades area, and participants often say, “Why hasn’t anyone done anything about that yet?”
For the many residents and visitors who gather and recreate in Buckhead’s largest greenspace, there is more good news in the works. The conservancy is placing the final touches on a new 20-year master-plan that has even more improvements. Stay tuned to Buckhead.com to learn more as the details become available.
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