The nonprofit Atlanta Memorial Park Conservancy spearheading the renovations at the Bobby Jones Golf Course, Bitsy Grant Tennis Center and Atlanta Memorial Park has only existed for little more than a year, but organizers say they have completed a large amount of work in that relatively short time.
“We’ve been going like gangbusters,” Roxanne Giles Smith, Atlanta Memorial Park president said. “It’s been a banner year.”
The AMPC pulled together the separate organizations for the tennis center, golf course and the six neighborhoods around the park into one unified group to create a master plan for the 190-acres of parkland – which is crossed by both Peachtree and Tanyard creeks – along Northside Drive. While the Bobby Jones Golf Course and Park Conservancy started the process of developing a plan for the 80-year-old course, the AMPC has advanced the process with a new master plan unveiled last month.
The AMPC is looking at the entire park long term. While the final master plan will cost millions to execute and take a decade to fully realize, the organization plans to stay involved in the maintenance and preservation of the park, just as the Piedmont Park Conservancy has done with Midtown’s green space.
Smith noted that the Piedmont Park Conservancy has been in existence for more than 20 years and is still involved in the ongoing renovations. The AMPC will launch a capital campaign to start raising money for the renovations this month.
The city’s third largest green space will remain under the control of the Atlanta Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs, which ultimately has final decision on all issues concerning its future.
The master plan must be approved by Commissioner George Dusenbury and then go onto the Atlanta City Council for final approval and Mayor Kasim Reed’s signature.
Atlanta Memorial Park is the only regional park in the city that does not have a master plan, Smith said.