Atlanta's Central Park - Piedmont Park
Atlanta, GA -Who says that a park is no fun in the winter? Piedmont Park is a beautiful place in the fall and winter... it sees the leaves turn a palette of colors, then fall only to reveal the true topography of the land.
It's a park for locals and visitors alike...a park for quiet repose or an energetic game of football. Ducks swim in the lake while Kids enjoy the park year round...recently unleashed dogs have been given their own piece of the pie. The park evolves as Atlanta grows and its citizens have taken its stewardship into their own hands with the Piedmont Park Conservancy. Let's take a look back in history at the development of Piedmont Park. It all began in 1887...a long time ago...
The development of Piedmont
Park began way back in 1887... 
189 acres of land was purchased in 1887 by the "Gentlemen's Driving Club" from Benjamin Walker in hopes of establishing an exclusive club and racing ground for horse enthusiasts. Shortly thereafter, the same club entered into an agreement with the Piedmont Exposition Company to hold expos and fairs on a portion of the purchased land. It was the Exposition Company that first named the fairgrounds, Piedmont Park.
During the next seventeen years, many expositions and fairs were held at the park, most notably the International Exposition, a world's fair, which ran for 100 days and featured 6,000 exhibits and attracted 800,000 visitors. Several features of the park created during this time are still evident today.
A horse racetrack was formed out of the ball fields of today. That field later hosted the first game in what has become the oldest intercollegiate football rivalry in the South. Georgia vs Auburn. Atlanta's original professional basebal team also played on the fields of Piedmont Park until they moved to their own stadium on Ponce de Leon Avenue. A spring flowed into the park near today's Visitor Center which was turned into a lake for the exposition in 1887. In 1895, it was enlarged to its current size of 11.5 acres and named Clara Meer.
The owners of Piedmont Park considered selling it to the city of Atlanta in 1887 and again in 1894; however, the purchase was a tough sell for a number of reasons-one, the park was considered too far away from the city and the city really wasn't in the "land business." Atlanta already owned Grant Park and hardly saw the need for another park!The third attempt in 1904 was successful when the city of Atlanta extended its city limits to encompass the park acreage.
By 1909 the fairgrounds were in decay and the city hired the Olmsted Brothers, pre-eminent landscape architects of the time, to develop a master plan for the park. Budget limitations prevented their implementation, nevertheless, their plan greatly influenced the development of Piedmont Park. In fact, the current master plan adopted by the City in 1995 honors the brothers original vision for the park. Many features familiar to park visitors today were developed during its first quarter century as a city park.
The rest house was erected in 1910, becoming the first permanent building in the new park and funded by the sale of the remaining 1895 Exposition buildings. This historic building was restored in 1996 to create the Visitor's Center located near the 12th Street gate. To support the swimmers, a wooden bathhouse was built in 1911, eventually replaced by the current stone bathhouse in 1926. Clara Meer was host to swimmers, diving platforms, sunning platforms and a giant, double water slide. Tennis courts were added by 1914 and have reamined to this day.
While the park experienced few physical changes from the 1930s to 1960s, the next two decades were a sea of change. In 1976, the high ground of Piedmont Park was leased by the City of Atlanta to the Atlanta Botanical Garden. In 1979, the golf course was closed, freeing up 70 acres of green space on what is now Oak Hill and the Meadow. In 1983, Piedmont Park was closed to through traffic, creating a more pedestrian-friendly park and opening the pathways to a new mix of wheeled traffic-skateboarders, bicyclists, and rollerbladers.
During the 1970s and 1980s, the rapid growth of organized events produced a dramatic increase in park usage. The Dogwood Festival (est. 1936), the Arts Festival of Atlanta (est.1954) and Gay Pride (est.1972) attracted large, diverse crowds to the park. In-park musical performances also took center stage, ranging from the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Allman Brothers concerts, to the Montreux Jazz Festival. Increased park usage, compounded by a decreased city budget, led to a clear deterioration of Piedmont Park. Now also plagued by illegal activities, it became clear that a long-term solution to fund the care, maintenance and security of park was critical.
The solution was a public-private partnership.
In 1989, unwilling to accept the decline of their beloved park, a small group of concerned citizens and civic leaders joined together to form Piedmont Park Conservancy, a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to the restoration and preservation of Piedmont Park. In 1992, The Conservancy established a Memorandum of Understanding with the City of Atlanta, making official the public-private partnership and mutual goals to rehabilitate and maintain Piedmont Park.
Through the generosity of corporate, foundation and individual contributions, Piedmont Park Conservancy has raised nearly $16 million in private funds to complete the first half of the Master Plan restoration, including the renovation of Oak Hill, Lake Clara Meer and the Meadowlands. Through its member support, Piedmont Park Conservancy funds landscaping maintenance workers and off-duty police officers to keep Piedmont Park safe, clean and beautiful, and offers a variety of educational programming through its new Community Center.
The restoration of Piedmont Park, though only halfway complete, is already gaining national attention with a prestigious new distinction as one of the country's "Top Lawns with a View," according to Briggs & Stratton's annual ranking of U.S. public lawns. The rankings, compiled by Briggs & Stratton, state tourism officials and lawn experts, are based on overall appearance, lawn/garden maintenance and scenery/view from the lawn.
A major contributor to the revitalization of in-town Atlanta, the rebirth of Piedmont Park has helped spur the development of new homes, restaurants and shops, as well as the return of prominent companies to the city's epicenter. Park usage has dramatically increased with more than 2.5 million visitors annually-a figure comparable to Turner Field and Philips Arena, two of Atlanta's top venues.
Through the work of The Conservancy and its dedicated members and generous supporters, Piedmont Park approaches its Centennial year on the path to revitalization and as the enduring central gathering place of Atlanta...no longer on the outskirts of Atlanta but rather a central park, not ulnlike New York's Central Park. Piedmont Park is very much the heart of Midtown Atlanta. Why not take a walk...anytime of the year!
More Info:
Piedmont Park Conservancy
P.O. Box 7795
Atlanta, GA 30357-0795
404.875.7275 (PARK)
404.875.0530 fax
info@piedmontpark.org
In 1995, Piedmont Park Conservancy partnered with the City of Atlanta
to adopt a new Master Plan that honors the Olmsted Brothers' 1912
vision for the park. The Conservancy has since embarked on a $25
million restoration program to restore Piedmont Park as the premier
green space of Atlanta and has raised nearly $16 million in private
funds toward this end. 
