Historic Fourth Ward Park is a park built on the site of the old Ponce de Leon amusement park, in the

Old Fourth Ward The Old Fourth Ward, often abbreviated O4W, is an Intown Atlanta, intown neighborhood on the Eastside (Atlanta), eastside of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The neighborhood is best known as the location of the Martin Luther King Jr. National H ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...

, just south of Ponce City Market and just west of the

BeltLine The Atlanta BeltLine (also Beltline or Belt Line) is a open and planned loop of multi-use trail and light rail transit system on a former railway corridor around the core of Atlanta, Georgia. The Atlanta BeltLine is designed to reconnect nei ...

Eastside Trail. Currently the park covers in two separate sections.

History

In Atlanta's Old Fourth Ward neighborhood, flooding from nearby Clear Creek has always been an issue. In the late 1980s and early 90s, the city drafted a $40 million plan to dig a massive underground tunnel in order to channel excess stormwater to a processing plant, where it would be cleaned and discharged into the Chattachoochee River. However, engineer-economist and environmentalist Bill Eisenhauer had a better idea. Eisenhauer believed that a solution utilizing

green infrastructure Green infrastructure or blue-green infrastructure refers to a network that provides the “ingredients” for solving urban and climatic challenges by building with nature.Hiltrud Pötz & Pierre Bleuze (2011). Urban green-blue grids for sustainab ...

could provide more benefits to both the ecosystem, and local residents. Eisenhauer created a plan for Historic Fourth Ward Park, a recreational area surrounding a 5-acre stormwater retention pond. The new plan, costing only $23 million, was noticed by local architect Markham Smith. Smith helped Eisenhauer organize stakeholders, including the Trust for Public Land and the Atlanta BeltLine, who purchased the declining industrial property next to the former Sears warehouse, where Eisenahuer had hoped new park would be housed. 17 acres of the park were completed in 2008. The stormwater drainage pond, which is set deeply into a bowl below the water table, is capable of holding up to 4 million gallons of water and slowly transporting them to the city's sewage treatment plant, enabling the park to handle a 500 year flood. In addition to the new pond, the park also includes landscaped walkways, bridges, observation points, grassy fields, as well as a shaded playground and splashpad to help residents escape the heat. The transformation of a declining industrial area into this park has increased the amount of green space in the Old Fourth Ward significantly, helping to reduce flooding and manage the

urban heat island effect An urban heat island (UHI) is an urban or metropolitan area that is significantly warmer than its surrounding rural areas due to human activities. The temperature difference is usually larger at night than during the day, and is most apparent ...

. Aside from being able to store large amounts of stormwater, the plant species in the park increase water infiltration and

evapotranspiration Evapotranspiration (ET) is the combined processes by which water moves from the earth’s surface into the atmosphere. It covers both water evaporation (movement of water to the air directly from soil, canopies, and water bodies) and transpira ...

, limiting excess water on a daily basis. One of the park's major funders and partners, the Atlanta Beltline, has faced criticism for the impact the park and other greening projects have had on surrounding communities. The creation of the Historic Fourth Ward park prompted development, including expensive loft apartments (with a small proportion of units slated for

affordable housing Affordable housing is housing which is deemed affordable to those with a household income at or below the median as rated by the national government or a local government by a recognized housing affordability index. Most of the literature on af ...

), high-end realtors, and upscale restaurants.

Pond And Amphitheater

The park includes a pond with a path around it and has an aerator fountain to keep it from stagnating. An amphitheater, cushioned with bermudagrass, surrounds part of the pond.

Skate park

The skate park is located at 830 Willoughby Way, Atlanta, Georgia 30312. It is a facility which offers bowls, curbs, and smooth-rolling concrete mounds. The designated skating facility is Atlanta's first public skate park. The park opened June 2011 with legendary skater

Tony Hawk Anthony Frank Hawk (born May 12, 1968), nicknamed Birdman, is an American professional skateboarder, entrepreneur, and the owner of the skateboard company Birdhouse. A pioneer of modern vertical skateboarding, Hawk completed the first docume ...

in attendance. Hawk's philanthropic foundation awarded the project $25,000. Hawk stated that the clear vision of BeltLine officials, as well as of Little Five Points' Stratosphere skateboards owner Thomas Taylor, who encouraged city officials to build the park, heavily influenced his foundation's decision to award the money.

Sections

* Phase I, "Historic Fourth Ward Park", Atlanta BeltLine website
/ref> from Morgan St. down to Rankin St., centered on waterfalls and the stormwater retention pond, opened in February 2011 ahead of the official grand opening in June 2011 * Phase II brought the total size of the park to , consisting of additions to the north and to the south: **the section between Rankin St. south to Ralph McGill Blvd. opened in June 2011 with a playground and "splash pad" for children,

urban forest An urban forest is a forest, or a collection of trees, that grow within a city, town or a suburb. In a wider sense, it may include any kind of woody plant vegetation growing in and around human settlements. As opposed to a forest park, whose ...

and recirculating stream, restrooms, a grand stair, wildflower meadow, entry lawn and entry plaza from Ralph McGill Blvd. **the section from North Ave. down to Morgan St., across from Ponce City Market and alongside Masquerade (Atlanta) includes a grand entry, event lawn and "artifact bosque". Part of this extension opened to the public in January 2012
photos
. * A separate section (acreage in addition to the Phase II total above), separated from the main park, immediately adjacent to the BeltLine and Freedom Parkway also opened in June 2011 and includes a sports field,

skate park A skatepark, or skate park, is a purpose-built recreational environment made for skateboarding, BMX, scootering, wheelchairs, and aggressive inline skating. A skatepark may contain half-pipes, handrails, funboxes, vert ramps, stairsets, ...

(see above), playground and restrooms. It is accessible by car from Wiiloughby Way and on foot from the BeltLine.

Future expansion

In January 2013 the BeltLine announced that it had acquired a parcel (bordering The Masquerade property on the south) which would connect the BeltLine with the park."New property acquired to connect the Atlanta BeltLine with Historic Fourth Ward Park", Atlanta BeltLine news release, January 7, 2013
/ref>

Gallery

External links

Design overview of the park at LandscapeOnline.com

References

The Atlanta Beltline

Historic Fourth Ward Park Conservancy

Fourth Ward Alliance
{{Atlanta landmarks Parks in Atlanta Old Fourth Ward