This summer, a sprawling construction site in the middle of a historic Atlanta neighborhood marks not the beginning of another apartment complex but an additional city greenspace with unique functionality.
Infrastructure work kicked off recently on a Peoplestown project that will install a community park and floodwater-capturing stormwater system across a former residential block once lined with single-family houses.
The park site is located about four blocks from Georgia State University’s Center Parc Stadium and south of Summerhill. Grant Park’s The Beacon district is just southwest of the block in question, which is bounded by Atlanta Avenue, and Connally, Ormond, and Greenfield streets.
The City of Atlanta Department of Watershed Management initiative—officially called the “Custer Avenue Capacity Relief Multi-Benefit Stormwater Vault project”—started the process last month of digging down from 20 to 30 feet below street level. That work is preparing the site for a vault upgrade to neighborhood stormwater systems, an effort to improve drainage and curtail flooding and sewer-overflow issues that have plagued the area in the past.
Scope of infrastructure work this month on the Custer Avenue Capacity Relief Multi-Benefit Stormwater Vault project, as seen from Atlanta Avenue at Greenfield Street. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta
Overview of plans for the 5-acre greenspace. Pond; via City of Atlanta Department of Watershed Management
The project for years was a lightning rod for land-use controversy and neighborhood protests critical of the city’s proposed use of eminent domain to buy home properties, clear them off the block in question, and construct the stormwater fix. That ended in August 2022 when Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens’ office announced the city had reached “breakthrough agreements” with holdout Peoplestown homeowners. A series of public engagement events to help determine park design were held last year.
Above the project’s massive stormwater vault, finalized designs calls for a 5-acre greenspace. Features will include a splash pad, dog park, an elevated viewing structure, open fields, and a large playscapes section, according to renderings compiled by Pond & Company landscape architects.
Pond; via City of Atlanta Department of Watershed Management
Construction this month from the corner of Atlanta Avenue and Connally Street. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta
The city’s schedule calls for completing the Peoplestown project in October 2027. It’s being funded with both water and sewer revenues, with additional funding from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act program.
Find more context and project images in the gallery above.
Context of the Peoplestown park project in relation to existing southeast Atlanta greenspaces. City of Atlanta Department of Watershed Management
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