The Stitch: New rendering released of park to reconnect communities split by downtown connector

ATLANTA — The City of Atlanta took one step closer in one of the biggest projects the city has ever seen.

Channel 2′s Tyisha Fernandes attended a meeting Wednesday morning where officials laid out how “The Stitch” will come to life.

What is the Stitch? The project has been in the works for over a decade to reconnect Black communities that were destroyed when the Downtown Connector was built.

“The disconnecting was intentional. I mean federal money was used to tear neighborhoods apart to get people through Atlanta faster,” said developer Mike Green.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

Shannon Gay is an attorney who has been part of several huge infrastructure projects in the city of Atlanta. She is representing her church St. Luke’s Church Episcopal Church, which is right in the middle of the project.

“We have seven acres on both sides of Peachtree between Ralph McGill and Pine Street, so we have beach front real estate if you will,” she said.

The church wants to contribute to rectifying the true fabric of Atlanta.

After a decade of public comments and planning, renderings now show what 14 acres on top of the connector will eventually look like. The multi-million dollar project will have affordable house for seniors and others, green space with trails, plazas and more.

“This first phase is affordable housing,” Green said.

Green said the project will reconnect MLK’s neighborhood to the city and attach Atlanta’s new history to it.

“Really the idea is to bring those two histories together through this development and do something that not only serves what we need now, but also can serve that place for the future of our city,” he told Fernandes.

RELATED STORIES:

• Over $150 million promised to reconnect Atlanta communities with ‘The Stitch’: Ga. lawmakers say
• 70 years after downtown connector split Atlanta, there’s a new effort to “stitch” it back together
• Atlanta Regional Commission approves $265 million for transport projects across metro area

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

©2024 Cox Media Group