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ACoRA Invests Nearly $700,000 to Improve Neighborhood Recreational Facilities and Parks

Posted on: Wednesday, 9 August 2006, 15:00 CDT

ATLANTA, Aug. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- The Atlanta Renewal Community Coordinating Responsible Authority, Inc. (ACoRA) will invest nearly $700,000 to improve six recreational facilities and neighborhood parks throughout Atlanta. These improvements will ultimately promote safer neighborhoods and increase the number of residents using the public facilities.

ACoRA's priorities include increasing neighborhood green space and improving recreational facilities by developing parks on vacant lots, upgrading plantings and fixtures in existing parks, refurbishing recreation/community centers and providing programs that constructively engage seniors and youth. Developing safe and livable neighborhoods also addresses infrastructure issues, such as broken or non-existing sidewalks, unpaved streets and lack of green space suitable for community gatherings.

"ACoRA seeks to invest in renovating these parks to help Renewal Community residents feel safer and take greater pride in their neighborhoods," said ACoRA Director William H. McFarland.

Six parks undergoing renovation include: -- Vine City Park, presently undeveloped parkland in the Vine City neighborhood, will undergo mass grading to promote drainage and improve accessibility, establish an internal walkway system, install a fescue event lawn, and provide landscape improvements and signage to identify the park. -- Rawson-Washington Park, located on 6.3 acres of City-owned property in the Capital Homes neighborhood in Northeast Atlanta, will resurface two basketball courts and a tennis court. -- Dunbar Park/Rosa L. Burney Pool Bathhouse, located in Southeast Atlanta in Mechanicsville, will be redesigned for more open space and existing restrooms will undergo a complete renovation. -- Four Corners Park, located in Northeast Atlanta on 1.5 acres of City- owned property in the Peoplestown neighborhood, will include improvements to the existing drainage system to address erosion problems. Overall park aesthetics include enhancing the walkways, landscape and playground. -- Chosewood Park, located on 6.07 acres of City-owned property in Southeast Atlanta in the Chosewood Park neighborhood, will address drainage problems along the walkways and ball field, provide enhancements to the park entrance, repair the retaining walls and establish a walking trail in the park and adjacent areas. -- Parkway-Angier Park, located on half an acre in the Bedford Pines neighborhood in Northeast Atlanta, renovations include installing a shelter over the picnic seating area.

In addition to these improvements, ACoRA is presently working on other initiatives to increase affordable housing opportunities and improve living conditions in the former Empowerment Zone. ACoRA is also partnering with local community groups with effective programs that foster employment and commercial investment as well as provide additional opportunities for achieving economic self-sufficiency.

In January 2005, the ACoRA contracted with Enterprise Atlanta to serve as the management entity responsible for marketing the Renewal Community tax incentives and the expenditure of $53 million in funds remaining from the former Atlanta Empowerment Zone. To date, the ACoRA Board has approved over $15 million in federal Title XX funds and facilitated the State's approval of $16 million in tax credit equity through the Commercial Revitalization Deduction to help promote commercial revitalization in some of Atlanta's most distressed neighborhoods. To learn about ACoRA, visit http://www.atlantacora.org/.

The Atlanta Renewal Community Coordinating Responsible Authority, Inc. ("ACoRA") is a Georgia non-profit corporation created by the City of Atlanta to utilize the RC Tax Incentives as a keystone to promoting economic development within the RC boundaries. ACoRA is also responsible for administering the expenditure of remaining Title XX funds from the City's former 1994 Empowerment Zone ("EZ") designation. It is the ACoRA's intent to encourage the leveraging of RC Tax Incentives with EZ Title XX funds to support comprehensive community revitalization.

Enterprise Community Partners, formerly the Enterprise Foundation, is a leading provider of the development capital and expertise it takes to create decent, affordable homes and rebuild communities. For more than two decades, Enterprise has pioneered neighborhood solutions through public-private partnerships with financial institutions, governments, community organizations and others that share our vision. Enterprise has raised and invested $7 billion in equity, grants and loans and is currently investing in communities at a rate of $1 billion a year. Visit http://www.enterprisecommunity.org/ to learn more about Enterprise's efforts to build communities and opportunity, and to meet some of the half a million people we have helped.

ACoRA

CONTACT: Catherine Foster Rowell, +1-404-522-3970, Ext. 32,cfosterrowell@enterprisecommunity.org

Web site: http://www.atlantacora.org/http://www.enterprisecommunity.org/

Source: PRNewswire

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