Roswell renames park for African-American neighborhood

Seth Freedman (right) watches his son Benjamin, 2, and his father, Chuck Freedman, at a playground at Waller Park Extension, recently renamed Groveway Community Park by the Roswell City Council. HYOSUB SHIN/HSHIN@AJC.COM

Seth Freedman (right) watches his son Benjamin, 2, and his father, Chuck Freedman, at a playground at Waller Park Extension, recently renamed Groveway Community Park by the Roswell City Council. HYOSUB SHIN/HSHIN@AJC.COM

The Roswell City Council has approved changing the name of a local park to eliminate confusion and commemorate one of the city’s oldest African-American neighborhoods.

Groveway Community Park is the new name of the Waller Park Extension, 160 Dobbs Drive, which had often been confused with Waller Park, 250 Oak St.

The Council’s vote followed an online survey of residents that showed 52 percent in favor of changing the name to Groveway Community Park and 20 percent to Groveway Park. The name change will cost the city about $6,000 to replace the park entrance sign.

The Groveway area next to the park gave rise to three groups serving black residents: The Groveway Community Organization, ultimately merged with the North Fulton Child Development Association; the Groveway Community Center, rebuilt by residents after it was torched by the Ku Klux Klan in 1961; and today’s Groveway Community Group, which provides services to families and seniors and scholarships.