5 Things You Might Not Know Piedmont Park Conservancy Does
For millions of people each year, Piedmont Park is a place to walk the dog, meet a friend, enjoy a picnic, take a swim or simply spend some time outside.
Behind those everyday moments is a lot of work.
Piedmont Park Conservancy works in partnership with the City of Atlanta to help steward more than 200 acres of Atlanta’s most beloved green space. From the landscapes you pass on your morning walk to the programs that bring neighbors together, our work touches nearly every corner of the Park.
Here are five things you might not know the Conservancy does.
1. The Conservancy manages more than 75% of the Park’s daily landscaping and maintenance.
There’s a lot happening behind the landscapes you experience every day.
The Conservancy helps mow Piedmont Park’s lawns, tend its plantings, care for its trees and canopy, maintain its landscapes and help care for Lake Clara Meer—all part of the year-round work required to steward more than 200 acres.
Some of that work is easy to spot. Much of it happens before you ever arrive. But whether you’re walking beneath the trees, playing on the lawn or finding a quiet place by the lake, you’re experiencing the results of that care.
2. We care for more than green space.
When we talk about caring for Piedmont Park, we mean much more than mowing grass and tending gardens.
The Conservancy’s work extends to many of the places and amenities you may already know and love—from the Aquatic Center and Pool, dog parks and Community Garden to the Legacy Fountain and Promenade.
It also includes helping preserve historic Park spaces like Greystone and Magnolia Hall. Today, these buildings welcome weddings, celebrations and other gatherings, but their history stretches back generations. Maintaining them means they can continue to be used and enjoyed while preserving an important piece of Piedmont Park’s story.
It’s all part of caring for the Park as a whole—not just its green spaces, but the places that make Piedmont Park, Piedmont Park.
3. We create more ways to experience the Park.
Stewardship isn’t only about caring for a place. It’s also about helping people experience it.
Throughout the year, the Conservancy creates opportunities for Atlantans to get outside, gather, learn and connect in Piedmont Park. That includes free fitness programs, guided walks and history tours, the Green Market, educational workshops and other community experiences.
These programs may look very different from one another, but they share a purpose: giving more people more ways to build a connection with Piedmont Park.
Because the more opportunities people have to experience this place, the more it can truly serve as Atlanta’s shared public green space.
4. More than 3,000 people volunteered their time to Piedmont Park last year.
The work of caring for Piedmont Park reaches far beyond our staff.
Last year, more than 3,000 volunteers gave their time to support the Park—from individual Atlantans to schools, community organizations and corporate volunteer partners.
Throughout the year, volunteers work alongside Conservancy staff on hands-on stewardship projects that help care for landscapes and natural areas across the Park.
Each project contributes to something much bigger: thousands of people choosing to take an active role in caring for a place that belongs to all of us.
5. We’re not only caring for today’s Piedmont Park. We’re helping shape what comes next.
What will Piedmont Park need five, 10 or 20 years from now?
That question is a critical part of the Conservancy’s work today.
Together with the City of Atlanta, the Conservancy is working to advance Piedmont Park’s Comprehensive Plan—a long-term vision shaped by input from more than 8,000 community members.
The plan is helping guide how we care for, improve and invest in Piedmont Park as Atlanta continues to grow. That means looking at everything from the health of the Park’s natural systems and aging infrastructure to accessibility, pathways, amenities and the ways people experience the Park.
Turning that vision into reality will happen over many years. But the work underway today is rooted in a simple goal: preserve what Atlantans love about Piedmont Park while preparing this extraordinary public space to serve generations to come.
The Park You Love Takes All of Us
Piedmont Park belongs to Atlanta. Caring for it is a shared effort.
As a nonprofit organization, Piedmont Park Conservancy works alongside the City of Atlanta and a community of volunteers, donors, members and partners to help care for this place today and protect it for the future.
Our mission is to enhance and preserve Piedmont Park as a vital urban green space and as a cultural and recreational resource that enriches the quality of life for all Atlantans.
Love Piedmont Park? Be part of what keeps it thriving.
