Boone Park West: the latest park that will come to fruition on Atlanta’s Westside.
Riding close on the heels of the grand opening of Lindsay Street Park, the first park in the English Avenue neighborhood, and the expansion of Vine City Park, Boone Park West represents the third park born out of the Proctor Creek North Avenue Study for Green Infrastructure (PNA Study), completed in 2010.
The PNA Study, led by Park Pride in collaboration with several partner nonprofits and the community, identified Boone Park West as a potential site for a park that would incorporate green infrastructure elements to help alleviate the impact of stormwater runoff, an issue that plagues the neighborhood with recurrent flooding.
In June, Park Pride, The Conservation Fund and the City of Atlanta—in addition to other project partners including the University Community Development Corporation, the Proctor Creek Stewardship Council, Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, Greening Youth Foundation, Community Improvement Association, ECO-Action and West Atlanta Watershed Alliance—announced a “Commitment to Action” to build Boone Park West and encourage economic growth and opportunity for those living within Atlanta’s Proctor Creek Watershed at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) America Meeting.
The commitment states that several blighted lots will be turned into a park and outlines the additional benefits of the park’s development that will catalyze economic revitalization of the surrounding community. Those benefits include:
- community engagement in the park’s design and construction,
- the education of community residents in green infrastructure solutions,
- and access to jobs and workforce training for residents.
In August, the National Recreation & Parks Association (NRPA) awarded Park Pride and project partners a Great Urban Parks Grant, one of just four awarded nationally, in the amount of $437,500 to help Boone Park West become a reality.
Park Pride and The Conservation Fund are currently facilitating a community-driven park visioning to determine the community’s desires for the future greenspace and the amenities they’d like to see in the park, in addition to the green infrastructure elements.
Boone Park West is slated to open in 2018.