Images: Atlanta Beltline’s next big park on verge of opening

Should Atlanta Beltline Inc.’s construction schedules hold true, a parks project that’s been in the works for nearly two decades should start to open in coming weeks. 

Enota Park’s so-called middle section is on pace to open in September along the Westside Trail, providing better access to the Beltline for surrounding neighborhoods, according to an ABI progress report and community meeting Monday detailing numerous Beltline projects underway in Southwest Atlanta. 

Enota Park’s middle section is one of three the Beltline hopes to debut between mid-September and November, though weather delays have recently plagued the project and could present an issue again, according to Meghan Injaychock, a Beltline senior landscape architect and project manager. 

A half-court basketball court was recently poured, a boardwalk completed, and a restroom and maintenance building finished, while pending facets include a “huge solar array over [the park’s] lower section meant to supply power needs for the full park,” per Injaychock.  

Formerly a simple tot lot, Enota Park is designed as a gateway between the Westside Trail and Westview spanning 8 acres—or about half the size of Historic Fourth Ward Park on the Eastside Trail—roughly between Interstate 20 down to Lucille Avenue at the south end. It’s previously been described as a “signature” and “transformative” greenspace by Beltline leadership. 

Landscaping efforts across the park are underway, and tree installation is expected to continue through the winter, per Injaychock. 

Efforts to expand the park first showed promise back in 2007, when the Trust for Public Land began acquiring six different properties to add about 4 acres. The initiative gained momentum in 2017, when the U.S. Department of the Interior gifted a $600,000 grant. The following year, Beltline leaders selected Peachtree Corners-based engineers Pond & Co. to lead designs. Efforts to find a construction manager (Reeves Young was picked) and finalize permitting began in early 2024. Construction kicked off in April last year. 

Beltline officials have said the park project will cost around $14 million. 

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Short, important Westside Trail piece

Plans continue to move forward for the Westside Trail’s short but crucial final missing piece, stretching from the Lee + White district up to the Gordon-White Park area. 

The .6-mile abandoned, cleared rail corridor that is Westside Trail—Segment 6 operates in West End in an interim state today, with lighting. That stands to change in coming months. 

Andrea Greco, a Root Design Studio landscape architect leading Segment 6’s design team, said permitting paperwork to begin Segment 6 construction is being submitted to the city this month. Construction bidding is scheduled to start sometime this fall, according to Greco. 

Beltline officials expect Segment 6 construction to kick off in spring 2027 and take roughly a year to complete. 

“We’re on track to get this done as soon as we can,” Greco noted.

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Murphy Crossing

Elsewhere in Southwest Atlanta, Beltline patrons should start to see noticeable deconstruction soon at a historic site that’s struggled for years to find its redevelopment footing. 

Andrea Foard, Beltline senior development manager, said the agency is currently working to procure a demolition contractor at its 20-acre Murphy Crossing property in Oakland City, to be followed by demolition permitting required to move forward.  

The demo process is now expected to start this fall and take roughly five months to complete. 

Beyond that, next steps call for finalizing designs for Murphy Crossing’s first phase of adaptive-reuse redevelopment and a stormwater park, then beginning the first slate of infrastructure improvements once demo wraps. Plans call for starting onsite construction with repurposing older buildings onsite, per the Beltline’s update Monday. 

Spread across five phases, the full buildout of Murphy Crossing is now set to include: 625 residential units, including apartments and townhomes; roughly 82,000 square feet of commercial space such as offices; 70,000 square feet of retail; and a substantial section, 103,000 square feet, devoted to light industrial uses, officials said during the revised project’s unveiling earlier this year. 

Below is a visual overview of what’s in store for coming months at Murphy Crossing. (Find more images and context for all of the above in the gallery atop the homepage.)

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