In June, the National Park Service (NPS) and Cumberland Community Improvement District (CCID) held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Paces Mill Park—the southernmost and most visited unit of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area (CRNRA) in Atlanta—to celebrate its transformative redesign. Guided in part by VHB’s land planning and landscape architecture team, the park is part of the larger 7,000-acre, 48-mile national recreation area established along the Chattahoochee River in 1978 under President Jimmy Carter.
The Paces Mill unit is visited by thousands of people annually and is a popular launch and summer takeout spot for canoes, kayaks, and tubes. It had not been significantly renovated since the 1970s. Recognizing the need for improvements and its potential as a gateway both to the CRNRA and the CCID, the CID and the NPS started working in 2017 on concept diagrams to enhance and renovate the park. VHB team members were retained to assist with design and are excited to have been a part of the project’s Phase 1 completion.
A key feature of the park’s redesign is the creation of a Piedmont Prairie, a nod to the region's historical ecosystem that once supported bison. This prairie replaces former parking areas, offering a natural arrival experience familiar to national park visitors across the U.S. The prairie, along with bioswales, plays a crucial role in filtering stormwater before it returns to the Chattahoochee River along the banks of the park. Arrival areas and parking were reoriented and designed to accommodate buses and school groups, and a concessionaire station was redesigned to accommodate canoes, kayaks, and tube rentals.
"This renovation not only revitalizes a beloved community space and improves the visitor and user experience, but it will also educate visitors on the importance of native ecosystems,” said John Fish, VHB Director of Landscape Architecture. “By reintroducing native vegetation and sustainable stormwater practices, we hope we are fostering a deeper connection between the community and its natural heritage."
Phase 2 of the redesign is currently in the planning and funding stages. It will include new restroom and changing facilities, an open-air pavilion, two river-overlooks, and amphitheater steps leading down to the Chattahoochee River as an additional place of respite, relaxation, fishing, and river watching.
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