The Atlanta Regional Commission announced Thursday that it had selected a firm to carry out a $1.5 million study aimed at creating a 100-mile greenway along the Chattahoochee River.

SCAPE Landscape Architecture is a prominent New York-based company founded by Kate Orff, the first landscape architect to be awarded the MacArthur "genius" grant. The firm specializes in environmentally sensitive infrastructure and "new forms of public space," according to its website.

Some of its projects include the Gowanus Lowlands, a plan for a network of parks along the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, New York, and Public Sediment, a initiative to restore and rebuild wetlands in the Bay Area, California.

“The Chattahoochee is one of our region’s most popular recreation spots, but access to the river remains limited in many areas,” Mike Alexander, Director of ARC’s Center for Livable Communities, said in a statement. “The goal of this study is to make the river a focal point of the entire region while building on metro Atlanta’s legacy of stewardship of this vital natural resource.”

A spokesperson for ARC said there will be opportunities for public engagement as the plan is developed over the next 18 months.

Read more about the ambitious plan, which some have likened in scope and impact to the Beltline, here.

About the Author

Keep Reading

John King, pictured here in the northern Afghanistan city of Kunduz in 2010, served as a senior military adviser to Afghanistan's Minister of the Interior. (Courtesy of Commissioner John King)

Credit: Courtesy Commissioner John King

Featured

Atlanta art and antiques appraiser and auctioneer Allan Baitcher (right) takes bids during a 2020 auction. Baitcher and his company, Peachtree Antiques, are being sued by a Florida multimillionaire who says he paid them $20 million for fakes. (AJC 2020)

Credit: Phil Skinner / Staff