We love when Historic Fourth Ward Park receives awards, because it means more people across the nation and around the globe learn about the innovative infrastructure of the park and its stormwater management system. The latest recognition comes from the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure (ISI), which honored the park with an Envision Gold award. The Envision sustainable infrastructure rating system assesses project criteria in five categories: Quality of Life, Leadership, Resource Allocation, Natural World, and Climate and Risk. ISI is the hub of a unique community of organizations and individuals involved in the planning, design, construction, and maintenance of infrastructure and was created specifically to develop and maintain a sustainability rating system for all civil infrastructure.
Historic Fourth Ward Park’s construction solved a flooding issue that plagued Old Fourth Ward and the former City Hall East building by turning acres of impervious, unused concrete space into a greenspace full of amenities for the adjacent neighborhoods. The park’s 2-acre lake acts as a retention pond, providing a sustainable and cost-efficient alternative to a traditional sewer system. The park’s location on the Atlanta BeltLine also makes it a prime area for economic activity and transit-oriented development.
The innovation of Historic Fourth Ward Park and the Atlanta BeltLine program as a whole can be replicated as sustainable development solutions across the world, so we want to make sure recognition like this travels far and wide! Read the full press release from ISI here.
