Welcome to Friends of Chosewood Park

Atlanta, GA, May 2023 --  A coalition of neighborhood organizations and volunteers in the Beltline neighborhood of Chosewood Park, including Nichole Weiswasser of Chosewood Park CDC, Inc., Taryn Arbeiter (President) and Lan Nguyen (Treasurer) of Friends of Chosewood Park, and neighborhood volunteer Laura Colbert, applied for and were awarded just over $1M from the State of Georgia’s Improving Neighborhood Outcomes in Disproportionately Impacted Communities grant fund to install a new park entrance to the neighborhood’s namesake 17-acre green space. The project, which includes a partnership with the City of Atlanta’s Moving Atlanta Forward infrastructure bond program and Atlanta Housing (which has pledged over $300k in further funding), will create east side access to the park for the first time ever. The project will transform the walkability of the neighborhood by including an extensive walking path and “unity bridges” across an eroded stream/stormwater conveyance that currently divides the neighborhood east/west. The grant funds are administered by the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget and came available under the federal American Rescue Plan Act. Chosewood Park CDC, Inc. (Nichole Weiswasser) will administer the grant. Neighbors have longed for over 40 years for ways to walk the neighborhood easy-west without being forced to travel all the way around the park on State Route 42, Boulevard, or Englewood Avenue. The project will provide east side access to the park for the first time, provide access to 10 previously unusable acres of the park, and allow better walking access to Benteen Elementary, neighborhood retail such as Red’s Beer Garden, and the Beltline. We are currently raising further working capital to most expeditiously use this “reimbursement grant.” We thank Empire Communities, Meta Real Estate, and Toll Brothers for thousands of dollars in donations that have allowed us to obtain updated topographical and tree surveys for the project, an erosion study, and an initial concept and renderings for the project.  We will be advocating for Boulevard Complete Streets and a Beltline Connector Trail to the new Chosewood Park entrance created in generous partnership between Empire Communities and the Atlanta Beltline Inc. 

Atlanta, GA, September 2, 2022 -- Friends of Chosewood Park received a Small Change grant of $2,500 from Park Pride to complete a drainage control project improving Chosewood Park’s most used amenity: its tennis and pickleball court. This project entailed restoring a  drainage inlet that had been installed in the 1980’s, regrading the area to prevent water from pooling, installing landscaping features to direct water into proper drainage infrastructure, and installing hardscaping to make the area usable. 

Prior to this project, the courts were recently resurfaced with funding from retired District 1 Councilmember Carla Smith. We hope that this project will further increase use of the park and protect this well-loved amenity from flooding.

Friends of Chosewood Park, along with Park Pride, has worked to make impactful changes to the Park and our community for the enjoyment of current and future residents.  Park Pride's Grantmaking Program is generously supported by the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation, The Home Depot Foundation, the City of Atlanta, and others.

Atlanta, GA, September 1, 2021 -- Friends of Chosewood Park (“FoCP”) is excited to announce that we have closed our grant awarded by Park Pride in the amount of $2,500 and neighborhood partner Clay Preston, who donated $3,000 in matching funds from the Barbara and Sam Preston Fund within the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta!  Two steel benches and two steel bike racks were installed at the end fo August in Chosewood Park.  Hope you enjoy!