Six months ago, the Buckhead Community Improvement District (BCID) started talking up a pie-in-the-sky idea of capping Ga. Highway 400 in Buckhead with a 9-acre park. While they insisted the idea was merely in its infancy, the announcement was very quickly followed by a Phase II study, resulting in some pretty fancy drawings of what the park could look like. Attempting to pump the brakes on Buckhead's collective enthusiasm, BCID director Jim Durrett told us in an interview that if everything worked out "we could have a park by 2025." But with some exciting news compliments of the BCID yesterday regarding a pending RFP — that is, a request for proposals on how to build the thing — it's suddenly harder to buy in to Durrett's protracted timeline. "The Buckhead CID is still in the beginning stages of developing a clear vision for the park," officials write, "but we now know that it can be done."
Quoting famed 20th century architect Daniel Burnham about making no "little plans," the news update by BCID is overwhelmingly optimistic, though it still urges readers to remember that this is all just preliminary. Despite the hesitance to show too much optimism, officials in October will release an RFP to "further evaluate planning, design, engineering, costs and funding models" for the park. After all, a similar park in Dallas has transformed a neighborhood, and as history has shown us ... anything Texas can do, Georgia can do at least 75 percent as well.
· A New Plan for a Park Over Georgia 400 [Buckhead CID]
· Visuals for Highway-Capping Park Have Already Arrived [Curbed Atlanta]
· Phase II Study for Park Atop Ga. 400 is Already Beginning [Curbed Atlanta]
· Buckhead CID Director Talks Growth, Traffic & Planning [Curbed Atlanta]
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