AMLI Buys Alta Old 4th Ward (July, 2010)

WRAS/4th Ward Park Conservancy Interview (Aug, 2010)

WEB-CAM / Live Construction

Construction Update

see all events

Become A Member of the Conservancy

Make a tax deductable donation to the Conservancy

Robert Tyler Edgarton

Isaac Farris for the King Center

Lenn Chandler & Kevin Fletcher for the Southern Company

Janet T. Hart on behalf of Atlanta Environmental Management, Inc. In honour of our human and animal friends who benefit from protection of our neighborhoods’ natural resources.

Matthew L. Hicks

Jeff Lam for Atlanta Downtown Neighborhood Association

Derek Matory

Sharon Gay and Neil Schemm for McKenna Long & Aldridge

Esther and Jim Stokes

Kit and Stuart Sutherland for the Fourth Ward Alliance Group on Facebook

Jay Swift for 4th & Swift Restaurant

Stephen and Trena Valrie

Use the GoogleMap below to:	grab and move the map with your mouse click on shaded areas or icons for info, images, and links and more... toggle on/off street names zoom in/out

Timeline

In spring 2003 Bill Eisenhauer, a storm water activist, convened a group to discuss storm water issues in Old Fourth Ward, particularly in the Clear Creek basin south of City Hall East. A small group of concerned citizens participated, and studied the question of how this could be the catalyst for transforming the area to a higher-density, higher-quality, more sustainable urban environment. The vision that evolved was not a singular solution focused on storm water; it was the total impact on quality of life for the surrounding neighborhood.

From this vision, Historic Fourth Ward Park was conceived. By fall of 2003, a concept plan was created to show to potential stakeholders. The rendering illustrated a large urban greenspace with a sustainable storm water detention pond as its central amenity, surrounded aesthetically by medium and high density residential development.

The proposed park would not only address the stormwater problem and help relieve the dire need for greenspace in the O4W, it would serve as a hub linking the O4W with Midtown, Downtown, Virginia Highland, Poncey-Highland, Inman Park and the BeltLine.

Legal Information

Ongoing cooperation led to the creation of a non-profit support arm for the new Park, the Historic Fourth Ward Park Conservancy. Its mission is to enhance security and maintenance, plan events and help expand the Park, toward a first-in-class public greenspace.

Legal documentation was filed, and the group obtained its official 501-(c)3 status in 2008.

Phase One, the stormwater detention pond project, is being financed by the Department of Watershed Management. With a significant interagency effort, the Groundbreaking Ceremony for the stormwater pond by the Department of Watershed Management took place on October 15, 2008. The ceremony involved the following list of players:

• Mayor Shirley Franklin - Atlanta City Council
• Department of Watershed Management
• Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs
• Trust for Public Land - Robert W. Woodruff Foundation
• Park Area Coalition - Friends of Historic Fourth Ward Park
• Historic Fourth Ward Park Conservancy
• NPU M - Fourth Ward Alliance o Park Pride
• Atlanta BeltLine Inc. - BeltLine Partnership
• Trees Atlanta - PATH Foundation
• Fulton County Board of Commissioners

Thus, interagency cooperation and collaboration has been the cornerstone of Historic Fourth Ward Park from its very first glimmerings. The original citizens' group from 2003 has now expanded to include the H4WP Conservancy.

The H4WP Conservancy, with the PAC, continues to work in cooperation with the City of Atlanta Parks and Recreation Department, the Atlanta BeltLine, the BeltLine Partnership, and the Department of Watershed Management to plan, fund, build and enhance Historic Fourth Ward Park.

In 2008, Atlanta City Councilmember Kwanza Hall introduced legislation naming Historic Fourth Ward Park, and the Atlanta City Council adopted the name.