Freedom Park: How Can It Be Improved?

Any given summer afternoon, you can find scores of walkers, cyclists, joggers and dog owners using the paths and trails of Freedom Park.

With 210 acres of linear green space, the park — born out of the defeat of what was to have been part of the Stone Mountain Freeway — Freedom Park is the city's largest public park.

But Freedom Park — which opened in 1992 and links the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site, the Old Fourth Ward, Inman Park, Poncey-Highland, Candler Park, Druid Hills, Virginia-Highland and Little Five Points — needs a little TLC.

As park regulars will attest, some parts of the park suffer from graffiti, broken or not enough lighting and a lack of seating.

The Freedom Park Conservancy's Park Improvement Committee is looking at the things that need to be addressed and is asking for the public's input into what they'd like to see.

At a meeting of the Candler Park Neighborhood Organization last week, Billy Davis, a Park Improvement Committee member, spoke to residents to tell them about the project and solicit their concerns and ideas.

Among some of the suggestions: better lighting, graffiti abatement and benches.

Davis, an Old Fourth Ward resident, will be making the rounds to all the neighborhood associations representing the communities that touch Freedom Park to get their residents' ideas as well.

To send him your ideas, e-mail Davis at: davisbi@gmail.com.