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Bellwood Quarry not just another pretty park for the BeltLine

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Atlanta's drought conditions are revealing Atlanta BeltLine, Inc.'s acquisition of the Bellwood Quarry last year to have been a very wise decision. Aside from the potential to spur the redevelopment of some of Atlanta's most blighted landscape, the Quarry will soon provide a source for the drinking water we Atlantans have long taken for granted.


The Quarry, in northwest Atlanta, will become Atlanta’s newest and largest park. That the new Westside Park will add over 300 acres of greenspace is significant -- we need more greenspace Intown.  But of equal importance to Atlanta is the fact that this greenspace will surround a water reservoir that could hold up to 1.2 billion gallons of water.

It's components like this that make the BeltLine such a compelling vision of a greener Atlanta. The popular metaphor for the BeltLine has been that of an Emerald Necklace with parks and amenities as the jewels adorning it. With a resource as precious as a new reservoir and the sheer scope of America's most ambitious redevelopment project, a better metaphor might be that of a crown (or even a halo). 

And when the Bellwood Quarry is transformed into Westside Park it will be the crown jewel.

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Posted on Saturday, November 24, 2007 at 06:09AM by Registered CommenterBurke Sisco | CommentsPost a Comment

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