Piedmont Park unveils 13 new acres, opens additional entrances as popular greenspace expands footprint

• Joeff Davis
• The expansion, parts of which were built on city-owned property that polluters had used as a dumping ground, opens up 12.5 acres of new greenspace for Piedmont Park visitors.

Accessing Piedmont Park from Morningside or Ansley Park by foot hasn’t always been easy. Possible, yes, but not always easy. Walkers had to hoof it to the entrance that leads to the greenspace’s parking deck. Or weave down a side street to reach the Atlanta Beltline and ultimately hike to Piedmont Park’s popular meadow. Maybe there’s a desire path or two between houses.

Starting today, visitors to Atlanta’s most well-known park will have several new entrances - and a new 12.5-acre area where they can lounge and relax - at their disposal.

The new area known as Piedmont Commons is nestled on the park’s northern edge on former Atlanta Department of Watershed Management property that now expands its footprint to Piedmont Avenue and Monroe Drive. The commons builds upon new parkland that opened in 2011 and offers nearby residents better access to the nearly 200-acre park.

“From the beginning of this portion of the fundraising we’ve been saying that this creates a walkable connection between Ansley Park, Virginia-Highland, Morningside, and Midtown,” Yvette Bowden, president of the Piedmont Park Conservancy, told CL on Wednesday. “That wasn’t a possibility before. Now people have a way to do that. That’s a pretty big deal. This creates brand new opportunities for people to get around and use this portion of the city.”

After the jump, many more photos of the expansion.