Healthy Recreational Opportunities in NPU-V

Rosa Bur­ney Park is a 13-acre com­plex in a res­i­den­tial neigh­bor­hood locat­ed on the south­ern edge of Atlanta’s down­town. When Colum­bia at Mechan­icsville, an 800-unit, mixed-income hous­ing com­plex, was revi­tal­ized in 2008, Casey’s Atlanta Civic Site and oth­er stake­hold­ers sought to update the near­by Rosa Bur­ney and Dun­bar Neigh­bor­hood and Recre­ation Cen­ter so that fam­i­lies liv­ing in the apart­ment com­plex and broad­er com­mu­ni­ty would have healthy recre­ation­al oppor­tu­ni­ties nearby.

Their vision dates back to 2006, when the Atlanta Civic Site worked with com­mu­ni­ty res­i­dents and com­mu­ni­ty-based orga­ni­za­tions to cre­ate a con­cep­tu­al design for the park and com­mu­ni­ty cen­ter. The civic site then worked in close part­ner­ship with the city’s Depart­ment of Parks, Recre­ation and Cul­tur­al Affairs to secure $3.8 mil­lion to bring that design to life. Con­trib­u­tors includ­ed the city of Atlanta, the U.S. Depart­ment of Hous­ing and Urban Devel­op­ment, Colum­bia Res­i­den­tial, the Arthur M. Blank Fam­i­ly Foun­da­tion, Park Pride and Final Four Atlanta.

The revi­tal­iza­tion effort took place in three phas­es between 2009 and 2013, result­ing in qual­i­ty ameni­ties and recre­ation­al oppor­tu­ni­ties for chil­dren and families.

The Dun­bar Neigh­bor­hood and Recre­ation Cen­ter, locat­ed next door to the Dun­bar Learn­ing Com­plex, is now one of the mayor’s Cen­ters of Hope, pro­vid­ing out-of-school pro­gram­ming that empha­sizes aca­d­e­mics, char­ac­ter build­ing, fit­ness and ser­vice to area chil­dren. The neigh­bor­hood cen­ter also hous­es com­mu­ni­ty-based orga­ni­za­tions that offer a range of health and work­force-devel­op­ment ser­vices and meet­ing space for residents. 

Improve­ments to the park and neigh­bor­hood center:

• Ren­o­vat­ed recre­ation cen­ter and gymnasium
• Junior Olympic-sized swim­ming pool, bath­house and con­ces­sion stand
• Prom­e­nade that con­nects the park with near­by hous­ing developments
• Artis­tic fence dis­play­ing a mosa­ic of tiles dec­o­rat­ed by area residents
• New and improved ten­nis courts and bas­ket­ball courts
• An inclu­sive children’s playground
• Replace­ment of an exist­ing pavil­ion and the addi­tion of a new pavil­ion near the children’s playground
• Improved land­scap­ing through­out the park