By Atlanta Beltline
In 2004, the Trust for Public Land’s Beltline Emerald Necklace Study gave Atlanta a picture of what the Beltline could become: a ring of parks around the city, strung together by a continuous trail. Twenty-two years later, that picture is coming into focus on the Westside, where two of those parks are taking shape at the same time.
In historic Westview, Enota Park is growing from a 0.3-acre playlot into an 8-acre green space for play, performances and gathering. Proctor Creek, which spends much of its early course underground, surfaces here, and its banks have been restored through the site. The finished park will include a performance pavilion, a splash pad, an activity field, a playground, a boardwalk with a creek overlook and a half-court basketball court, along with several new connections to the Westside Trail.
A trail ride north, the Bike Park at Shirley Clarke Franklin Park is taking shape across roughly 45 wooded acres inside Atlanta’s largest greenspace. Phase 1, which broke ground in January 2026, delivers an asphalt pump track, a bicycle playground, a skills course and jump lines. The full project adds 2.25 miles of mountain bike trails, from beginner routes to expert gravity lines, plus .75 miles of hiking trails that keep walkers clear of riders. Phase 2 will begin once fundraising is complete.
What These Parks Deliver for the Westside
These parks will provide much more than physical amenities. They will create pathways to healthier living, places for communities to connect, and moments of joy. Children in Grove Park will learn to ride at a bicycle playground built to professional standards – and experience the freedom of using the Beltline to explore their city. Families in Westview will have a place to spend a Saturday morning, meet up with their neighbors, and play freely. Both parks were designed with residents at the table, and both parks are built to be used every day.
We know from experience and from research that access to quality parks and trails leads to better health outcomes, more physical activity and a higher quality of life. Placing these two parks on the Westside corridor puts those benefits within walking and biking distance of the neighborhoods around them. And these parks will also become destinations in their own right, drawing visitors from across the region and bringing new economic activity to the Westside.
Grove Park, Bankhead, Westview, West End, and other Westside neighborhoods are getting their full share of the Emerald Necklace.
Donors Advancing the Vision
The Beltline is Atlanta’s premier “group project” demonstrating how government, corporate, community, and philanthropic partners can work together to deliver a better future for our city and its residents. For more than two decades, donors have played a major role in delivering Beltline parks and trails.
The Bike Park and Enota Park continue this generosity, with investments from more than two dozen foundations, companies, and individuals, led by the Chestnut Family Foundation, the Coca-Cola Foundation, Delta Air Lines Foundation, Georgia Power, Truist, Norfolk Southern, Rebecca and John Somerhalder, the Fraser-Parker Foundation, Home Depot Foundation and the Atlanta Hawks. What that list says about Atlanta matters as much as the dollars do. These are parks built by the city’s own companies, foundations and neighbors, for the communities that asked for them.
The Remaining Need
Across both parks, $2.5 million of fundraising remains: $600,000 for Enota Park and $1.9 million for the bike park and trails. Of the more than $20 million donated for these two parks to date, $2 million is contingent on raising the final $2.5 million.
That gap is small next to what Atlanta has already given, and closing it brings the Emerald Necklace meaningfully closer to whole. To make a gift or to discuss a corporate commitment, visit beltline.org or email development@atlblp.org.
