Buckhead Reporter www.ReporterNewspapers.net
SEPT. 5 — SEPT. 18, 2014 • VOL. 8 — NO. 18
Inside
Real Estate
‘Willful disregard’? Two views on Fulton County’s decision to raise taxes COMMENTARY 6
Baked goodness Bella’s Best Organic Gourmet serves up sweet and savory treats RESTAURANTS 14-15
Things are looking up
PAGES 8-10
‘Exhibit art’ to evoke area’s history BY JOE EARLE
joeearle@reporternewspapers.net
PHIL MOSIER
Jeff Covell, center, oversees the installation of oak trees on Aug. 22, part of the $10 million streetscape project for Buckhead Atlanta. Read related story and see additional photos on page 2.
Blue Heron Nature Preserve grows, looks to expand trail BY JOE EARLE
joeearle@reporternewspapers.net
The Blue Heron Nature Preserve is adding 4 acres in an expansion that may allow it eventually to tie into a wide-spread network of trails connecting city parks. “We are very excited,” said Nancy Jones, executive director of the nonprofit preserve. The new property on Land O’Lakes Drive is contiguous to Sarah Smith Elementary School. Its location means it Nancy Jones could allow construction of walkways that would connect the preserve to other trails in the area, Jones said. “There’s just huge potential to open up all our green space around Buckhead,” Jones said. Eventually, the preserve’s trail can tie into the PATH400
trail and Atlanta’s Belt Line and connect to paths at Chastain Park, Jones said. A trail to Chastain could run along Peachtree Creek, she said. “Our vision is to expand Blue Heron well beyond our own boundaries by connecting our trails to existing ones all around us,” Jones said. She said connecting to the Sarah Smith school property “links everybody to our property.” North Buckhead Civic Association president Gordon Certain praised the notion of developing a way to walk to Chastain Park. “I am excited about having an alternative to driving to the park,” Certain said in an email. “Sometimes, with events in the park, walking is faster than driving. Plus, the walk along West Wieuca Road can be a challenge without a map to tell you which side of the road the sidewalks are.” SEE BLUE HERON, PAGE 23
Imagine walking through a Buckhead park surrounded by ghostly Civil War soldiers cut from metal. Or looking at a building through a clear plate etched with a photo of how that spot looked 50 years ago. Those are a couple of the ideas members of Buckhead Heritage are tossing around as they plan how to illustrate the community’s history. “We want people to ask, ‘What’s going on?’ ‘What’s the story here?’” said Erica Danylchak, executive director of the nonprofit group created to identify, preserve and promote Buckhead history. Buckhead Heritage has worked with consultants and a steering committee composed of other Buckhead groups and organizations since last October to draw up plans for presenting local history. The group developed five “storylines” to tell the community’s tale and mapped sites that illustrate those stories. Buckhead Heritage’s steering committee also is thinking up ways to present the sites to people who visit them. “Unconventional exhibit art, along with interpretive signage, will be used to evoke Buckhead’s history in imaginative ways in parks and urban plazas in the community,” Danylchak said. The committee has developed 10 different methods of interpreting each site, including the metal sculptures of soldiers and use of historic photographs on see-through panels. “You’d stand in a certain spot and see what it looks like now and see what historic fabric we still have,” she said. “One of the things we SEE BUCKHEAD HERITAGE, PAGE 19
SPECIAL
“Ghosts of History” is one of the concepts Buckhead Heritage has for illustrating the community’s past.