Among the greenery at Piedmont Park, hundreds of civic and park leaders gathered for the annual Landmark Luncheon hosted by the Piedmont Park Conservancy. The guests heard a host of updates on the master plan announced last year.
In 2025, the conservancy announced its first comprehensive master plan in 25 years, which would kick off decades of effort to turn the city’s iconic park into a true “crown jewel.”
“Great parks aren’t forgone conclusions,” Piedmont Park Conservancy CEO Doug Widener said.
The “big, bold plan for Atlanta’s beating green heart” included basic improvements, new walking paths, a canopy walk, a new boardwalk, a three-year tree care initiative called Seeds for the Future and its first major expansion in decades. The range of projects will be phased out over the next 10-15 years, but Widener already had some updates just 12 months after launch.
“That day, we made a promise,” Widener said. “And this year we’ve been keeping it.”
Since last year’s luncheon, the conservancy has restored the Piedmont Park Pool and Aquatic Center and added new jets and lights to the legacy foundation. The organization also added flowers to all park entrances, including a new entrance garden at the meadow.
In 2025, the conservancy also launched Seeds for the Future, a three-year tree care initiative to inventory over 3,000 mature trees, plant new ones and run an interactive app and volunteer stewardship program.
Widener said the conservancy has since worked to protect the tree canopy while doing “succession planning” for future years, with the help of volunteers during things like “stewardship Saturdays.”
The park also added public programs, holiday activations like Light up the Season and boosted attendance.
“Perhaps our greatest story is a story we’re starting to write,” Widener said. “Piedmont Park is growing.”
The conservancy recently acquired land in anticipation of the park’s northeast expansion, and it is working actively to acquire the other necessary parcels. The CEO said the team has also hired a general contractor, project manager and re-engaged the design firm that helped create the plan. Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architecture and Perez Planning and Design led the master planning process.
In the next year, Widener promised more progress: new lighting around the active oval and improvements to the dog park, including shade, benches, and additional amenities. The conservancy is also in the early permitting phases of a new maintenance shop and pedestrian entrance on Evelyn Street, with plans for the Clear Creek walk and Piedmont Commons underway.
“What this means simply is, Atlanta will have more park, more open space, trails, more places to gather and play and belong,” Widener said.
But major park improvements cost money. The annual luncheon jumped into its fundraising portion after the progress update, with a fast-paced auction-style effort — bidding paddles and all.
By the end of the “auction” and with additional fundraisers, the luncheon organizers announced the crowd had broken another record and raised $650,00, well above last year’s record-breaking $500,000.
