FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 24, 2014 Media Contacts: Rashedah Caldwell, (478) 461-8502 and Creatifdenature@gmail.com; or Andrew Silver, (478) 301-2564 and silver_a@mercer.edu TATTNALL SQUARE PARK NAMED NATIONAL “FRONTLINE PARK” Joins Past Honorees from Chattanooga’s Coolidge Park to Atlanta’s Piedmont Park MACON – Tattnall Square Park, one of Macon’s most historic green spaces and one of the oldest city parks in America, has been named one of 12 ―Frontline Parks‖ by the City Parks Alliance. Friends of Tattnall Square Park will hold a news conference near the new rain garden in Tattnall Square Park to celebrate the designation this Thursday at 10 a.m. Each month City Parks Alliance names one ―Frontline Park‖ as a standout example of urban park excellence, innovation, and stewardship from across the country. ―We selected Tattnall Square Park as a Frontline Park because it exemplifies the power of urban parks to build community and make our cities sustainable and vibrant,‖ said Catherine Nagel, Executive Director, City Parks Alliance. ―We hope that by shining the spotlight on Tattnall Square, we can raise awareness about the ways investment in our nation’s urban parks pays off.‖ The ―Frontline Park‖ program identifies city parks that find innovative ways to meet the unique challenges faced as a result of shrinking municipal budgets, land use pressures and urban neighborhood decay. Past recipients include Piedmont Park, the Highline, Prospect Park, Patterson Park, Coolidge Park, and Discovery Green. Friends of Tattnall Square Park, a non-profit organization devoted to the restoration and preservation of the historic park, has helped spearhead recent restoration efforts at Tattnall Square. Among the projects of Friends of Tattnall Square Park in the last three years: the most extensive tree planting in a century (215 trees), a new gateway at Lawton Street, a granite seating wall and patio, a repainted pavilion, individually designed trash receptacles throughout the park, a stone bridge running between two rain gardens, solar powered trash compactors, drip irrigation throughout the park, a new drinking fountain, and wrought iron park benches and picnic tables.
Future projects include new sidewalks, the return of Tattnall’s historic fountain, and temporary public art throughout the park. Friends of Tattnall Square Park is funded in part by the Knight Neighborhood Challenge, a program of the Community Foundation of Central Georgia and funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation; the challenge was created to invest in ideas to restore the College Hill neighborhood. ―We were able to dream big because of the Knight Neighborhood Challenge Fund of the Community Foundation of Central Georgia,‖ Andrew Silver, Chair of Friends of Tattnall Square Park, explained. ―With those Neighborhood Challenge grants, we were able to accomplish in two and a half years what most park organizations might accomplish in decades. Before, when Maconites dreamed for the park, and dreamed big, nothing happened with those dreams, or they became patchwork realities—stunted plans half realized. Now when we dream, when we look to the most successful parks in the nation and work with our city officials to make Tattnall a truly great park, the Knight Neighborhood Challenge Fund of the Community Foundation of Central Georgia helps us realize these dreams. Those grants have been the dreammakers for our historic park, and each grant has in turn attracted more private investment to the park.‖ In all, state, city, and private sources have invested $2.4 million in the park and its surrounding streetscape, with most of the funding coming from Georgia Department of Transportation and private donations. Friends of Tattnall Square Park will mark the Frontline Park designation and the completion of its two rain gardens and stone bridge at 10 a.m. at the site of the gardens near Tattnall Square Park parking lot. For more information on Tattnall Square Park improvements and efforts, please contact Director of Communications and Outreach for Friends of Tattnall Square Park, Rashedah Caldwell, at 461-8502 or Andrew Silver at 301-2564.