The vision of Sandy Springs’ riverfront park has changed, but after all the controversy, the city’s residents will get their reward this spring: a great view.
Expected to be ready by May 1, Overlook Park will include new landscaping, to make up for illegal plant removal last year, and the remnants of a pioneer family’s home as its centerpiece.
“The vision changed but always for the better,” said Blake Dettwiler, the city’s assistant director for land development. “It’s going to be a really beautiful passive recreation park.”
Once planned as a dog park, the five-acre parcel became a city priority last year after removing overgrowth of wisteria and bamboo revealed a stunning view of the Chattahoochee River at the end of Morgan Falls Road.
Then, the state cited the city for illegally clearing vegetation too close to the riverbank. The city’s plan to restore the buffer included planting birch, poplar and willow trees in what by then was envisioned as a passive recreation area for people, not pets.
The violation angered environmentalists, and the new direction disappointed some dog owners.
When it became clear the plan also called for knocking down a stone chimney, and rebuilding it with modern materials, residents and civic groups began packing local meetings in a bid to save the structure.
The Sandy Springs Conservancy led the effort to make sure the chimney, the last standing part of a home belonging to the settler Powers family, was kept in its current stacked-stone configuration.
The group, which worked on plans to make the site a park before Sandy Springs became a city in 2004, paid for a historical and architectural study of the chimney and a similar fallen masonry.
Faced with a report showing the historical significance and residents clamoring to save the structure, the city redesigned plans yet again.
“The Powers sited their house with the most beautiful view and panorama of the river,” said Councilwoman Karen Meinzen McEnerny, who pushed her colleagues to save the chimney. “It’s great that we recognized the significance and importance of saving that.”
As crews finish leveling the land and installing utility lines, the chimney will be a focal point by staying in place at the park’s highest point.
Bricks from the fallen chimney will be used to lay a plaza area leading up to the structure. They also could be used to outline the original Powers cabin, Dettwiler said.
“The city agrees with many in this community that this is a tremendous asset, not only to Sandy Springs but to the whole river valley,” said Linda Bain, the conservancy’s executive director. “It is fitting as the old heart to a new park.”
The city is spending $1.8 million to fashion the park. When completed, it will include a new pavilion, playground and storage shed for personal watercraft. A dock already juts into the river, for use by canoeists and kayakers.
There will be no area for off-leash dogs when the park is complete. The city has been in talks with Georgia Power Co. about setting up a dog park elsewhere.
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