About - The Restoration Memorial & Preserve Master Planning and Design

Project Description

 The Restoration Memorial & Preserve project is an effort to master plan and conceptually design Future Green Space at the site of the former Atlanta Prison Farm, adjacent to the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center on Key Road SE in Atlanta, GA. The study area includes over 100 acres of land with waterfront access to Intrenchment Creek.   

The Future Green Space sits at the intersection of many histories—Indigenous stewardship, agricultural labor, incarceration, and civic change. The planning and design effort includes existing conditions assessment, community engagement, and concept exploration, and aims to provide public recreation, historic interpretation, and memorialization of the site’s complex history. The process will culminate in a final report documenting the findings and proposing design recommendations for Future Green Space.  

Project Background 

The City’s Department of Parks and Recreation (“DPR”) enhances the lives of residents and visitors through the development, operation, and maintenance of the City’s public parks, offering recreational activities, leisure activities, and recreational programs throughout the City of Atlanta. Parks master plans are the roadmaps that guide every phase of parks management, from design to programming and maintenance. Good master plans are based on thorough, accurate research and maximize community involvement in decision-making.  

DPR has teamed with HGOR (an Atlanta-based design studio) and their multidisciplinary team of archaeologists, historians, ecologists, arborists, architects, and engineers to study the site. Through a series of engagement activities, this team will share their findings with the community for discussion and incorporate that feedback into the final master plan report. The report’s recommendations will guide DPR’s next steps towards opening the site for public use. 

Project Timeline 

The Restoration Memorial & Preserve Planning and Design Process will take place in the first half of 2026, with the final report published in the summer.