Construction may begin on Old Riverside Park as early as the middle of the third quarter of this year, Sandy Springs Recreation and Parks Director Brent Walker told the Sandy Springs City Council.
Walker told the city council at its Feb. 4 meeting that the department’s goal is to get permits to connect to water and sewer, for land disturbance, and approval under the Metropolitan River Protection Act by mid-May to keep the project on schedule.
Once the permits are approved, the project at 500 Old Riverside Drive NW, Sandy Springs, will be put out for bid, which will take a month, Walker said. Construction of the park, located north of the Riverside Swim and Tennis Club and north of the intersection of Old Riverside Drive NW and Riverside Drive, may begin by the later part of the third quarter or the fourth quarter of this year, he said.
Walker and Aaron St. Pierre from Lose Design shared final design plans with the Sandy Springs City Council at the meeting. Walker said after the city bids out the construction contract, they’ll get a hard number on the cost.
If costs exceed the $5.8 million available for the park project, recommendations will be made to find ways to keep the project within budget. Lose Design continues to work on construction documents for the park to put the project out to bid.
Walker said the plan is consistent with the 23-acre park’s master plan that included public access, Chattahoochee River observation access, a playground, green infrastructure, nature trails, and a $200,000 pre-fabricated restroom facility, while maintaining the passive nature of the site.
Sandy Springs has already purchased the restroom building.
St. Pierre said the parking lot will be built with permeable paver systems to reduce the stormwater management impact on the site. The number of parking spaces increased from 15 to the mid-30s and the playground area expanded by another 2,000 square feet to 7,250 square feet.
The heart of the project is what will be called the restoration meadow, St. Pierre said. The property was once heavily developed for water and sewer facilities and has an open section of land with utilities and infrastructure in place. That part of the park will be used to create the restoration meadow with native plantings, butterfly gardens and a hydraulic feature to help manage stormwater.
The lawn in the meadow will have a paved loop around it that leads to river overlooks. Those overlooks are, in turn, tied into a trail network and into several hiking trails that lead to higher topography levels
St. Pierre said the final design includes a single bridge crossing over the creek on the eastern part of the property. A second bridge wasn’t necessary as consolidating to one bridge would provide better control to access points.
An outdoor classroom has been designed in a bend of the creek on the eastern portion of the property. Multiple playground pieces will be part of the design with an architectural style that evokes natural materials, St. Pierre said.
Walker told council members the park is not designed for cyclists.
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