April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 14

WE ARE PARKS AND RECREATION
How a Stormwater Park Is Revitalizing
a Historic Atlanta Neighborhood
By Robby Bryant
O
Vine
ne hundred years ago, Atlanta's Vine City neighborhood was
a bustling district. A middle-class neighborhood where vibrant
cultural and political life flourished, residents strolled the treelined
streets, churches and schools dotted the landscape, and
local businesses thrived. Lush vegetation grew year-round in nurseries and
gardens under glass greenhouses, giving the neighborhood an uncommon
beauty and its distinctive " Vine City " name.
At the turn of the 20th century,
Atlanta's mayor commissioned the
famed Olmsted Brothers Company
to design a park with grassy meadows,
fountains, shade trees, walking
paths and stately streets. The
park was home to the first integrated
playground in the city, a source
of community pride and an immensely
popular gathering place.
The neighborhood lost its park in
the 1950s, as it was repurposed into
an elementary school.
During its heyday in the 1960s,
City became the soughtafter
address for America's most
influential civil rights leaders and
families, including Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. However, over the
course of several decades, Vine
City's population dwindled, and
the neighborhood fell into decline.
Dramatic increases in
impervious
surfaces contributed to severe
flooding of streets and homes,
which culminated in 2002 as heavy
rains damaged a large swath of the
neighborhood, exacerbated by an
outdated stormwater system. Unable
to rebuild, many residents sold
Rodney Cook Sr. Park is a green oasis with
critical hydrological infrastructure that
was designed to address flooding within
Atlanta's Vine City neighborhood.
their plots, which subsequently sat
empty for more than a decade and
contributed to population loss, disinvestment
in the community and
increased crime.
To address Vine City's complex
social, environmental and economic
challenges, The Trust for Public
Land hired design firm HDR to
lead the design of Rodney Cook
Sr. Park. The new 16-acre dualpurpose
park and watershed management
system alleviates
flooding
by capturing and storing up to
10 million gallons of stormwater
while simultaneously creating a vibrant
community destination.
Putting the " Fun " in
Functional Engineering
Rodney Cook Sr. Park (informally
known as " Cook Park " ) is a
green
oasis with critical hydrological
infrastructure in the heart
of the community. Designed to
seamlessly
integrate functional
engineering features within a programmed
park space, Cook Park's
amenities - which include a destination
playground, amphitheater
stage, market plaza, multipurpose
courts, recirculating fountains, meandering
boardwalks and interpretive
overlooks - provide visitors of
all ages and abilities with ways to
gather, connect and enjoy nature.
A watershed achievement
in many ways, Cook Park also
includes
significant
sustainable
features. Beautiful and functional
rain gardens filter storm flow
14 Parks & Recreation | APRIL 2 0 22 | PARK S ANDRECRE AT ION . OR G
PHOTO COURTESY OF HDR © 2021 PAUL DINGMAN
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation

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