A quarter-century in the making, the Memorial Drive Greenway project has seen plenty of behind-the-scenes action regarding design and features in recent months, following a long dormancy period. Now, the work is about to go public. 

The first Memorial Drive Greenway public Open House is scheduled from 4 to 7 p.m. Oct. 14 at the Oakland Cemetery Visitor Center (374 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive SE). 

Greenway plans call for remaking half a mile of underutilized land between Oakland Cemetery and the eastern edge of downtown into an accessible, leafy linear park. The land in question totals 8 and ½ acres, sandwiched by Memorial Drive (the southern border) and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive (northern border). 

Graphic showing six planned sections of the Memorial Drive Greenway initiative. Courtesy of City of Atlanta Department of Parks and Recreation

Project leaders will be seeking input from residents and stakeholders to help shape the project and ensure it honors city history, while building a more connected, greener urban landscape, according to City of Atlanta Department of Parks and Recreation design officials.  

The Oct. 14 event is one of three scheduled public Open House forums for the Memorial Drive project, set to conclude with another event at Oakland Cemetery in March.  

In related news, city official recently announced the Greenway will include a skate park that spans more than 2 and ½ acres, crediting a partnership between an unnamed business leader and local property owner with making that happen. “This feature,” noted officials, “will add energy and vibrancy to Atlanta’s growing bike and skate culture.”

Courtesy of City of Atlanta Department of Parks and Recreation

Plans for the Memorial Drive Greenway date way back to initial studies and land acquisitions in 2001. 

Fifteen years later, the 2016 Memorial Drive Vision Plan was finalized, promising a beautified linear greenspace that would complement billions of dollars in private investments flooding into the corridor during that era. Then the initiative went largely quiet for years. 

That changed in August, when Department of Parks and Recreation officials launched a fresh Memorial Drive Greenway design phase in partnership with Pond & Company. 

The Peachtree Corners-based planning and landscape design firm is also behind the Beltline’s under-construction Enota Park project, large-scale pedestrian upgrades in Buckhead, and a flood-solving, 5-acre park underway in Peoplestown, among other projects. 

Plans for the Greenway's first phase call for gathering public input and compiling schematic designs for the full length of the park. That would be followed by finalized designs, permitting, and construction for one of seven city-owned blocks included in the Greenway’s scope. Absent from phase one is the “cap park” component that called for bridging greenspace over the downtown Connector, as the initial scope will focus on “achievable next steps,” per city officials.  

Western end of the Memorial Drive Greenway concept, nearest to downtown, according to plans approved in 2016. City of Atlanta Department of Parks and Recreation

The 2016 vision plan will serve as a “foundational guide” for revised designs, according to project leaders. Greenway plan revisions are expected to include Sustainable Sites Initiative strategies, which call for native plantings and stormwater management in an effort to boost public health and biodiversity. 

The Greenway’s design phase is being funded by $560,037 in discretionary funds from City Council District 5, as part of the Moving Atlanta Forward bond; and $500,000 from the Department of Parks and Recreation’s fiscal-year Park Improvement Fund, per city officials.

Beyond city leadership and designers, partners in the project include The Conservation Fund, Park Pride, Mailchimp cofounder Dan Kurzius (a former competitive skateboarder, it should be noted), The Integral Group, and the Friends of Memorial Drive Greenway. [UPDATE: 11:11 p.m., Oct. 13: "Invest Atlanta officials send the following note: Invest Atlanta was both a funder and partner for this project. Invest Atlanta utilized approximately $11 million in Eastside TAD funding to purchase numerous parcels of land over the past 15 years for Memorial Drive Greenway."] 

Full scope of the finalized Greenway plan compiled in 2016. City of Atlanta Department of Parks and Recreation

The Greenway revival comes in the wake of downtown’s highway-capping Stitch project losing the bulk of its funding—more than $150 million in federal cash previously approved by President Joe Biden’s administration—that was required to complete phase one. Stitch leadership insists the project will continue to move forward and seek alternate funding sources.

For a closer look at finalized 2016 Greenway plans, zoom in over here.

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