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Westside Atlanta communities will get two new parks next year, boosting greenspace, livability

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Development comes as investment ramps up and more Atlantans call the neighborhood home

The new Rodney Cook Sr. Park in Atlanta’s Vine City neighborhood.
A rendering of the new Rodney Cook Sr. Park.
Trust For Public Land via Saporta Report, courtesy of HDR Inc.

In the last few years, the neighborhoods of English Avenue and Vine City on the western edge of downtown Atlanta have seen investments of money, time, and sweat equity, as Mercedes-Benz Stadium rises just to the east.

Now, according to the Saporta Report, the neighborhoods will finally see the construction of not one but two parks to add acres of needed greenspace.

The long-anticipated Rodney Cook Sr. Park and smaller Boone Park West will serve as community spaces while combating longstanding drainage and flooding problems in the area.

Construction of the parks is made possible by a range of organizations, including Park Pride and the Trust for Public Land.

HGOR

While construction of the two parks is big news, the Westside greenspaces are mere precursors for what’s destined to come nearby, officials say.

Plans are still in development for the creation of what will become Atlanta's largest public park: Bellwood Quarry.

Located to the northwest of Vine City, Bellwood Quarry and Reservoir Park will comprise nearly 300 acres and will feature a massive lake—a former quarry, filled with water from the Chattahoochee—nature trails, and plenty of recreation space. (By comparison, sprawling Piedmont Park is 185 acres).

Eventually, Vine City and English Avenue could connect via a network of trails and parks along Proctor Creek to Bellwood Quarry and the Chattahoochee River.

Officials say construction on Rodney Cook Sr. Park (16 acres when finished) and Boone Park West (roughly four acres) should be completed by the end of 2018. The former is in early stages of construction already, as a recent visit to the site proved:

Construction equipment sits in the background for a sign welcoming visitors to Vine City at Rodney Cook Sr. Park. The flood-solving greenspace is under construction west of Midtown and downtown, on the south side of Joseph E. Boone Boulevard.
Photos: Jonathan Phillips, Curbed Atlanta
Part of the parkland’s existing open space, where houses were wiped out by a flood about 15 years ago. The park’s periphery includes renovated houses, churches, businesses, and dilapidated properties.
Downtown in the distance at the corner of Vine and Tyler streets, cutting through the middle of park space.
Looking down Joseph E. Boone Boulevard back toward Northside Drive and the city’s core.
Mercedes-Benz Stadium can be seen behind the construction equipment resting in the corner of Rodney Cook Sr. Park.
Tarped buildings sit across from Rodney Cook Sr. Park at Elm Street.
Heavy equipment dots the landscape.
1st Thessalonian Missionary Baptist Church sits across from Rodney Cook Sr. Park.
Buildings for sale are surrounded by a chainlink fence at the corner of Vine Street and Joseph E. Boone Boulevard.
L & L Grocery at the corner of Joseph E. Boone Boulevard and Vine Street.
Part of the open space at the future Rodney Cook Sr. Park. Following the trail cut through the trees unveils parts of the Georgia Dome in the distance.