On a Friday in late April, kids raced around a new sidewalk at Sidney Marcus Park, residents enjoyed live music, and families gathered in seemingly every square foot of the playground area. The “power of parks” to bring communities together was demonstrated in full force as the surrounding neighborhood gathered to celebrate and cut the ribbon on new park amenities. These new features, funded in part by a $100,000 grant from Park Pride, include a walking path, new accessible entrance on Sherwood Road, and bioswales and drainage infrastructure, which help to mitigate erosion.
Park Pride joined Commissioner of Atlanta’s Dept. of Parks & Recreation, John Dargle, Council Member Alex Wan, Morningside Lenox Park Association’s President, Ben Nemo, John Pappas from the Friends of Sidney Marcus Park, and Brad Marcus, the son of Sidney Marcus in a program that highlighted history, collaboration, and partnership to create a loved space in the neighborhood.We are proud to partner with the Friends of Sidney Marcus Park to support these capital improvements through our Grantmaking Program. For almost 20 years, we’ve been helping dreams come true through awards to community groups seeking to revitalize their neighborhood greenspaces. The Grantmaking Program is generously supported by the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation, The Home Depot Foundation, the City of Atlanta, and others. To date, Park Pride has awarded over $12.7 million to park projects, with over 50% of awards in the past 2 years going to parks in low-income areas.
This recent project was the third grant awarded to the Friends of Sidney Marcus Park. They are making progress towards their vision for the park the meets the community’s needs, and we can’t wait to see what they come up with next!
