Infrastructure Development Empowering Community
The Rodney Cook, Sr. Park was developed nineteen years after the September 21, 2002, flood in the Historic Vine City neighborhood.
Prior to the existing design of the park, there was another design created by the National Monument Foundation. However, due to the lack of funding from the Foundation to implement their design Mayor Kasim Reed, commissioned a partnership between the Trust for Public Land, the Atlanta Department of Parks and Recreation and the City of Atlanta Watershed Management and the Historic Vine City neighborhood residents as well as English Avenue and surrounding neighborhoods were the driving forces in the development and construction of the sixteen-acre storm water park.
The Park was designed and built as a storm water Park to alleviate flooding by capturing and storing up to ten million (10 million) gallons of stormwater while creating a destination and ultimately contributing to the revitalization of the historic Vine City neighborhood. Through the years, the historic Vine City and surrounding neighborhoods have seen increases in impervious surfaces which has contributed to flooded streets and homes.
The Park is designed to seamlessly integrate functional engineering features within a programmed park space. Park amenities provide users of all ages and abilities with ways to gather, connect and enjoy nature including a playground, splash pad, aeration fountain, a great lawn along with a market plaza, multi-purpose courts and an amphitheater stage.
The Park embodies significant and sustainable features including:
Beautiful and sustainable rain gardens that filters storm flow from incoming pipes.
Stormwater planters that line the streetscape edge to capture runoff from the neighborhood streets.
Constructed wetlands and native plantings surround the wet pond to enhance water quality.
The Trust for Public Land commissioned the Planners for Environment Quality (PEQ) to secure input from community residents relative to desired components and activities in the Park.