OLPA's Current Projects

Having restored four park segments, the Olmsted Linear Park Alliance has embarked on a third major phase of planning and fundraising. The goal of the current $4.8 million campaign is to rehabilitate the two remaining segments, Springdale and Deepdene, and to complete an endowment fund for ongoing maintenance. A description of the proposed projects follows.


Springdale
Springdale is the westernmost segment, the gateway to the Linear Park from Atlanta. Maps reveal a densely developed grid of straight streets running outward from the city center, but at the intersection of Ponce de Leon Avenue and Moreland Avenue/Briarcliff Road, a very different landscape unfolds. The visitor encounters a green knoll and a mature stand of oaks, followed by a sweeping pastoral dell.

Although Olmsted’s drawings show a path system in Springdale, it is no longer evident. A playground was constructed in the dell in the 1930s, marring the broad vista. The city, which owns Springdale, removed most of the equipment in 2003 because of safety concerns.

During the earlier phases of Linear Park restoration, Springdale benefited from the burial of utilities, addition of vintage lighting and construction of new curbing. In the current campaign, the $800,000 goal for Springdale supports the restoration of plantings, repair of drainage systems and installation of paths, benches and signage. The amount will also provide a new playground and a reserve fund for maintenance.

Deepdene
Deepdene, the largest segment, forms the eastern end of the Linear Park. Unlike the five pastoral segments, it is a wooded tract with a stream winding through its 22 acres and a topography that ranges from steep slopes to a flat meadow. Deepdene is the property of Fernbank, which leases it to the DeKalb County Department of Parks and Recreation.

Although Deepdene appears on Olmsted's earliest plan, the park never became a true example of the picturesque landscape that appears throughout his work. Aside from routine mowing and essential repairs to drainage systems, there has been little human intervention in the health of the woodland. Few people visit Deepdene, and it is not even regarded as a public park by much of the public it could serve.

The proposed $4 million rehabilitation of Deepdene will be done in stages. Priorities include remediation of severe erosion and storm water problems, burial of utilities and construction of curbing. To make the park safer and more accessible, appropriate lighting and signage will be installed and a sidewalk and row of trees will be added along Ponce de Leon Avenue. In the interior, the path system will be realigned and expanded, and the proliferation of non-native invasive plants will be controlled.

Olmsted foresaw that Deepdene could provide the growing population of Atlanta with an experience of the Piedmont forest. Other woodlands in the city have been preserved, notably Fernbank Forest, the Storza Woods of the Atlanta Botanical Garden, the Swan House Woods at the Atlanta History Center and the Frazer Center property. However, all of these are private tracts with controlled access. Deepdene alone remains a public park.