Historic Fourth Ward Park – A Development of Excellence

On Friday, October 12, the Atlanta Regional Commission bestowed its highest honor upon Historic Fourth Ward Park, the Development of Excellence Award. Atlanta BeltLine, Inc., The Atlanta BeltLine Partnership, the Department of Watershed Management, the Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs, the Trust for Public Land, and the Historic Fourth Ward Park Conservancy, which submitted the nomination, all received the award together for the unprecedented collaboration between the community, government, the nonprofit sector, the private sector and philanthropic donors.

The Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) and the Livable Communities Coalition (LCC) recognized five of the region’s most innovative developments and one “Great Place,” with the 2012 Developments of Excellence Awards. The winners, announced at ARC’s annual State of the Region breakfast on Friday, October 12, were:

• Historic Fourth Ward Park, Development of Excellence
• Downtown Decatur, Great Place
• Downtown Norcross, Livable Centers Initiative Achievement Award
• College Park Gateway Center, Exceptional Merit for Public-Private Partnership
• Ivy Hall, Exceptional Merit for Historic Preservation
• Emory Point, Exceptional Merit for Infill Development

The Developments of Excellence awards, presented annually by ARC and the LCC, recognize developments in the 10-county Atlanta region that exemplify cutting-edge, livable designs that are helping to create a positive framework for future development. The Great Place is given to a place in metro Atlanta that represents livability and sustainability, but is not necessarily a single, private development.

“We are proud to recognize developers, local governments and nonprofit organizations that change the way people and businesses in the Atlanta region interact,” said ARC Chairman Tad Leithead. “These projects and their success show us that metro Atlantans want to create a better region for themselves and for the residents of the future.”

2012 Development of Excellence Award

Historic Fourth Ward Park
Historic Fourth Ward Park’s natural beauty and appealing public spaces belie the fact that it is a large, complex civil engineering and infrastructure project. Built on 17 neglected acres of mostly contaminated soil and invasive plants, the park’s centerpiece is a stormwater retention pond that reduces neighborhood flooding, relieves local sewer systems and features a fountain through which stormwater enters the pond. The park boasts a skate park designed by the local skating community and an amphitheater for formal performances or informal gatherings. The park also preserves and maintains the environmental quality of the surrounding community and is located on the Atlanta BeltLine trail system, adjacent to a variety of housing types and connected to the Ponce City Market development.