PATH CONNECTING COMMUNITIES ACROSS GEORGIA WITH 300 MILES OF TRAILS
August 2021, Issue #104
NEWS
Cheers to 30 Years! page 2
PATH Foundation A Non-Profit Organization Dedicated to Planning and Building Greenway Trails AUGUST 2021
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Cheers to 30 Years! Thirty years ago this month, the PATH Foundation was granted 501(c)(3), non-profit status by the Internal Revenue Service with a mission to build multiuse trails for the City of Atlanta. Our first goal was to connect as many Olympic venues as possible in anticipation of the world coming to Atlanta in 1996. The founders of PATH, then People of Atlanta for Trails Here, had been laying the groundwork for the new organization for the previous two years, scouting out locations for trails, building relationships with the city, and attending neighborhood meetings almost every evening. In those days, only a few people really understood the potential value of trails to the city. Fast forward 30 years, and with tremendous support from government officials, neighbors and a very generous philanthropic
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community, PATH has been able to build over 300 miles of trails. In addition, PATH has become a resource for more than 40 communities outside of metro Atlanta, lending guidance and expertise when those communities sought to develop trail systems. PATH trails have been especially appreciated during the pandemic. Trail use has more than doubled as people escape to the outdoors and enjoy safe socializing and exercising. To celebrate 30 years and 300 miles of trails, PATH initiated a “30 Years Anniversary Challenge.” The initiative challenges participants to walk, run, or ride up to 300 miles between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Many have registered to accept the challenge, some exceeding the 300 mile mark at press time. PATH swag is awarded
weekly and an Atlanta Pedego Electric Bike will be awarded in a drawing on Labor Day. The PATH board and staff opted not to have a large gathering to celebrate our anniversary but SweetWater Brewing Company decided to help us celebrate with a couple of smaller events. The first was an outside Dunk Tank event at Pour Taproom on the Eastside Atlanta BeltLine Trail. Last month, SweetWater hosted the first 75 PATH supporters signing up, to a beer and snack reception at the brewery. It was great to have a group toast the PATH team for 30 years of hard work. From the founders, board, and staff at PATH, many thanks to everyone who have supported us for 30 years. Cheers to the past 30 years and cheers to 30 more! l
PATH Planning the Northwest BeltLine Trail
Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. (ABI) and PATH have agreed that the PATH team will plan the Northwest BeltLine Trail. PATH has also made ABI aware they are available to design and build the trail as well. This agreement will likely result in the Northwest BeltLine Trail being planned, designed, and constructed within the next 6 years. The PATH team has been doing field work and identifying potential routes for the trail since the first of April (see map above). Proposed routes will be vetted with ABI and northwest
Silver Comet Trail
Wilkins Greenway
METRO ATLANTA
Carrollton GreenBelt Newnan LINC
Olde Town Cricket Conyers Frog Trail Trail
LaGrange Clayton The Thread Connects Columbus Dragonfly Trail
ho
oc he e
PATH400 Northwest BeltLine Connector Tanyard Park
er Riv
a
Whetstone Creek Trail
Spanish MossTrail
(Beaufort, SC)
Nancy Creek Greenway
Chastain Park Trail
Silver Comet Trail
at t Ch
Peachtree Creek Greenway
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South Peachtree Creek Trail
Emory PATH
WESTSIDE PARK
Proctor Creek Greenway Westside Trail
Westside BeltLine Connector
PIEDMONT PARK
PATH Parkway
CENTENNIAL OLYMPIC PARK
Southwest BeltLine Connector Lionel Hampton Trail
There are no abandoned rail lines for the BeltLine to follow in the northwest quadrant which necessitates the extra layer of planning. The corridor selected will likely require acquisition from multiple property owners and numerous bridges and tunnels over and under railroads and major highways and streets. The planning study is slated to be completed around year end. l
New Trail Maps Are Here!
Panola Arabia Mountain Mountain Greenway PATH
South River Trail
neighborhoods in the coming months before alignment decisions are made.
Eastside BeltLine Trail
Decatur PATH Freedom Park Trail
Stone Mountain Trail
Trolley Trail
Westside Beltline Trail
Island Wide Trail System
(St. Simons Island) East Decatur Greenway
In May, PATH completely reworked the trail map portion of the website. Whether you are interested in an experience in the metro Atlanta area or trails outside the city, you can find easy-to-navigate maps for each of the 36 trails PATH has developed. Once you select a trail, you will find an interactive map, detailed description on what the trail has to offer, mileage, elevation information and more. Visit pathfoundation.org to check it out! l
South River Trail East Point PATH
Southtowne Trail
AUGUST 2021
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2021
Annual Report Highlights
304
TOTAL MILES OF TRAILS!
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NEW MILES OF TRAILS
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COMPLETED TRAIL SEGMENTS
TRAILS/SEGMENTS COMPLETED: n
Carrollton Greenbelt
n
Newnan LINC
n
Cook Park Connector
n
Panola Mountain
n
Decatur PATH
n
n
Emory PATH
Westside BeltLine Connector
n
LaGrange The Thread
93.5% OF DONATIONS WENT TO BUILDING AND MAINTAINING TRAILS
INCOME
EXPENSES
FYE MARCH 2021
FYE MARCH 2021
n Capital Campaign n Contribution Revenue n Public Grants n Private Funding
$5,068,689 $1,028,395 $582,227 $100,517
74.8% 15.1% 8.6% 1.5%
TOTAL INCOME
$6,779,829 100.0%
n Construction of Trails $8,449,955 81.6% n Fundraising and Special Events $116,419 1.1% n Administrative $552,665 5.3% n Programs $1,202,794 11.7% n Trail Maintenance $31,336 0.3% TOTAL EXPENSES $10,353,169 100.0%
F O R T H E F U L L 2 0 2 1 A N N U A L R E P O R T, V I S I T O U R W E B S I T E .
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Bridges and Tunnels The highlight of experiencing any trail is often the bridges and tunnels encountered. Who doesn’t look forward to crossing the 520 foot-long South River Bridge near the Monastery on the Arabia Mountain PATH or listening to their echo while zooming through the Brushy Mountain Tunnel on the Silver Comet Trail?
Donald Lee Hollowell Tunnel
PATH is building several new tunnels and bridges in 2021 to make your summer walks and rides more enjoyable. We encourage you to check them out!
Alexander Cameron Madison e dg Boulevard Bri
Joseph E. Boone Bouleva
rd Bridge
The Newnan LINC features a 30’ bridge over the creek near Rogers Road. Soon, downtown Newnan will be connected to the I-85 LINC bridge and destinations east of the interstate.
A 60’ bridge spans a creek on the Wilkins Greenway in Winder, Georgia.
Westside BeltLine Connector connects the Georgia World Congress Center to the future Westside BeltLine. It features three bridges and two tunnels, a few of which are pictured above.
South River - Georgia Perimeter College to Waldrop Road features a 100’ bridge over Shoal Creek.
Cricket Frog Trestle Bridge (under construction) is a 295’ bridge found over Dried Indian Creek in Covington.
AUGUST 2021
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THIRTY YEARS AGO We are using our 30 year milestone as an opportunity to reminisce about the first few years as a determined, grass roots organization attempting to convince city leaders and philanthropists that our mission was worthy of their assistance. Here are a few of the PATH headlines from 30 years ago.
THE NEWS IN 1992 & 1993
Tree Ordinance
In 1992, PATH helped Atlanta council representatives Clair Muller and Dozier Smith draft the first tree ordinance to address Atlanta’s thinning tree canopy in residential areas. Before 1992, the only tree ordinance in place was the product of then councilman Sam Massell which only applied to commercial zoned property.
Freedom Park Trails PATH was busy helping the city and Dekalb County plan and design trails through the proposed Freedom Park from the MLK Jr. Center past the Carter Center to Candler Park Golf Course. Our partners at the time were the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT), the city, Dekalb County, and the group CAUTION, who had convinced GDOT to build a parkway along this route rather than an expressway. PATH provided philanthropic dollars to the trail project, along with advocating for trail spurs to Inman Park MARTA and East Ponce de Leon Avenue.
Lionel Hampton Trail
In the summer of 1993, PATH personnel convinced Lionel Hampton to donate land for a trail near Utoy Creek in southwest Atlanta. Later that year, PATH completed the Lionel Hampton Trail, the first trail PATH built in Atlanta. The famous jazz bandleader came down to help PATH, Mayor Bill Campbell, and neighborhood leaders dedicate the trail.
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Atlanta Greenway Plan In 1993, PATH received a grant from the State of Georgia to develop a Greenway Trail Plan for Atlanta, Design Guidelines for Multiuse Trails and a Guide to Planning Greenway Trails. Planning Commissioner Leon Eplan and city planner Alycen Whiddon provided guidance and credibility to the fledgling PATH volunteers to get the documents completed. Most of the trails in Atlanta today, including the Atlanta BeltLine, were proposed in the plan.
ED’S CORNER edwin@pathfoundation.org
I Miss You, Buddy I woke up this morning thinking about an old friend, Senator Nathan Dean. I’m not sure why Nathan was on my mind. Maybe it is all the people telling me about their good times on the Comet, or maybe I’m just getting old and spending more time thinking about people that have been special to me during my journey. Nathan was a Rockmart, Georgia citizen who served 42 years representing Polk and Paulding counties as a State Representative and then as a State Senator. He passed away in 2013 at age 79. Nathan was my go-to guy in 1997 when PATH began our quest to build a trail from Smyrna to the Alabama state line. In 1991, Nathan led the effort to preserve the abandoned rail-line from Smyrna to Rockmart for a future, high-speed commuter train. A group of trail enthusiasts, including yours truly, convinced Nathan and the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT), to let us use the line for a trail until such time it was needed for commuter rail. The state retains the right to remove the trail and install commuter rail with a sixty-day notice. Back then, we were confident we’d have a trail for a very long time. After we got the interim use agreement from GDOT, we needed money to develop the trail. I went to visit the Senator to plead our case. Nathan’s real job was selling insurance. I have fond memories of visiting Nathan in his insurance sales office in Rockmart. His desk, stacked with papers and files, almost filled the tiny cubicle he called home. There was barely room for Nathan and I to sit down. Nathan was bucking the popular opinion in his district. He told me during my first visit that he’d help me but that most people in Polk County didn’t want a bunch of spandex people from Atlanta coming to Polk County. Nathan really went out on a limb for me.
sweet tea. Nathan knew everybody, and spent most of the time in Mildred’s shaking hands and chatting with constituents. Nathan had me come to the capitol and show my presentation to committee members each year. Most of them respected his decision to help me which resulted in the project getting $500K-$1M in state funding for several years. That, combined with a generous donor community and several Transportation Enhancement grants, we had the funding necessary to build the Comet. When we started working on the Cedartown to Alabama segment, I proposed to make a presentation at Esom Hill. There was a club there that always had a crowd, it seemed. He said there was no need. He told me he had proposed a campaign rally there during his first campaign and was told “If you don’t come, we’ll guarantee you’ll get all of our votes.” I decided against making a presentation at the club and Esom Hill supported the trail. I was honored to help Nathan cut the ribbon on the completed Comet. He was an old school, country, politician who understood what the Comet could do for his district. Nathan, I hope you are listening when people tell me how much they enjoy the trail. Thanks for taking a leap of faith and embracing me and my fellow spandex buddies. You were a champ! l
After our chats, we made a tradition of going to Mildred’s Café and having meat, four veggies and AUGUST 2021
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PATH Foundation P.O. Box 14327 Atlanta, GA 30324
PATH Foundation Board of Directors Charlie Shufeldt, Chairman Alex Taylor, Vice Chairman Jennifer Dorian, Secretary Harry L. Anderson, Treasurer Samuel Bacote Brian Cosgray William C. Fowler B. Harvey Hill, Jr.
Ciannat Howett James C. Kennedy Sarah K. Kennedy Scott Kitchens E. Cody Laird, Jr. Stephen Lanier John W. Somerhalder II Richard Tyler
Sam Friedman, Emeritus Chairman W. Douglas Ellis, Jr., Emeritus Carol Muldawer, Emeritus Greta deMayo, Executive Director Ed McBrayer, Executive Advisor Follow us on Facebook and Instagram and visit our website at pathfoundation.org. Facebook 8
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