Transform Westside Summit – July 7, 2017
Featured Presenters:
Jay Wozniak, The Trust for Public Land, Update on Rodney Cook, Sr. Park
Andrew White, Park Pride, Update on Boone Park West
Darryl Haddock, West Atlanta Watershed Alliance
About Rodney Cook, Sr. Park: Cook Park is a proposed 16-acre neighborhood park in Atlanta’s historic Vine City neighborhood. The Cook Park design project represents collaboration between The Trust for Public Land, the City of Atlanta Department of Parks and Recreation, the City of Atlanta Department of Watershed Management, The National Monument Foundation, and most importantly the community.
About the Trust for Public Land: Our mission is to create parks and protect land for people, ensuring healthy, livable communities for generations to come. Every park, playground, and public space we create is an open invitation to explore, wonder, discover, and play. We’re proud to say that we’ve been connecting communities to the outdoors—and to each other—since 1972. Today, millions of Americans live within a 10-minute walk of a park or natural area we helped create, and countless more visit every year.
About Boone Park West: Boone Park West will convert vacant and distressed properties in the English Avenue neighborhood into a vibrant 3.2 acre park. Park Pride, in partnership with The Conservation Fund, has facilitated a community-directed visioning process to develop the park masterplan. As the site’s land owner, The City of Atlanta’s Department of Parks and Recreation is playing a critical role in development and coordination. Other project partners include The City of Atlanta’s Office of Sustainability, the University Community Development Corporation and Chattahoochee Riverkeeper. The project team also includes a number of community based organizations, including the Proctor Creek Stewardship Council, the Community Improvement Association, ECO-Action, and the West Atlanta Watershed Alliance, as well as a workforce development component supported by the Greening Youth Foundation that will hire local youth from the surrounding community.
About Park Pride: Park Pride is Atlanta-based nonprofit that engages communities to activate the power of parks. Working with over 100 local Friends of the Park groups, Park Pride provides leadership and services to help communities realize their dreams for neighborhood parks that support healthy people, strong neighborhoods, vibrant business districts, a robust economy and a healthy environment. Park Pride is active in greenspace advocacy and educating both civic leaders and the general public about the benefits of parks, and annually hosts the Parks and Greenspace Conference. Learn more about Park Pride at www.parkpride.org.
About West Atlanta Watershed Alliance: West Atlanta Watershed Alliance (WAWA) believes that a healthy environment equals a healthy community. Their overall efforts are focused on growing a cleaner, greener, healthier, and more sustainable West Atlanta. As an all-volunteer organization, WAWA was successful in preserving over 400 acres of greenspace from development in Southwest Atlanta and raised over $2 million dollars to do so (even before becoming a 501 c(3) organization). Through a MOU with the City of Atlanta Bureau of Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Affairs, WAWA now operates the Outdoor Activity Center (OAC), a 26-acre urban forest preserve and nature center. WAWA is also the steward of the nearby 135-acre Cascade Springs Nature Preserve and the 200-acre Lionel Hampton Beecher Park; all in Southwest Atlanta.
The Transform Westside Summit is held on the 1st and 3rd Friday of each month. Meetings begin promptly at 7:15 a.m. with complimentary breakfast, provided by Summit sponsor Chick-fil-A, and morning devotion.* Please feel free to invite additional partners to attend this event.
*Many in our community are driven by their spiritual faith to participate in the Westside revitalization effort. The time at the beginning of our meetings is an opportunity to share various inspirational reflections. While the speakers may articulate their personal faith, it is meant to be inclusive, inspiring and meaningful. All are welcome.