Piedmont Park, Atlanta Botanical Garden will see $100M expansion

The year ended with big news for Atlanta’s most loved park, with outgoing Mayor Kasim Reed unveiling plans for a massive expansion of Piedmont Park.

According to a press release by the city, the park will grow to the north, thanks to acquisition of two large parcels, costing $20 million.

The deal would extend the park northward to the corner of Piedmont Road and Monroe Drive. The sites are currently home to a gas station, HobNob, and a small shopping center, which is (oddly) actively expanding.

While some details are still unclear, conceptual plans indicate the acquisition could also include an old home most recently used as a restaurant.

The conceptual design presented shows new trails snaking around and across Clear Creek, which currently serves as the eastern boundary for the park. Drawings by landscape architecture firm HGOR show two buildings or pavilions in the expansion, as well as an amphitheater.

Final designs will be produced through a public-input process, per city officials.

City of Atlanta

Additionally, the Atlanta Botanical Garden would expand eastward along Piedmont Road, taking in land which currently has a public storage facility and a few old commercial buildings. The expansion would bring the campus to the edge of the future Beltline corridor.

The released design for the garden’s expansion is still very conceptual.

City of Atlanta

Overall, the expansion is expected to cost nearly $100 million—the balance of which will be provided through private funds. So far, a private donor has contributed $2 million for the land purchase.

• Mayor Kasim Reed Announces $100M Expansion of Piedmont Park [City of Atlanta]