Freedom Park (Atlanta)

Freedom Park is one of the largest parks in Atlanta, Georgia, United States.

In the 1960s, the Georgia Department of Transportation began acquiring land for two east-side freeways. One (I-475, now I-675) would cut north from I-20 through Virginia-Highland, creating an interchange at I-85 connecting with what is now Georgia 400. The other (part of which is now Freedom Parkway) would run east from the Downtown Connector (I-75/85) to the Stone Mountain Expressway as I-485. A cloverleaf interchange for the two was to be atop the prominent Copenhill where the Carter Center now stands. Through purchases and eminent domain, the GDOT assembled much of the central portion of the project land, and had already demolished 500 homes when local protests and lawsuits, and Governor Jimmy Carter finally stopped the project in the 1970s.

That land sat vacant and overgrowing with kudzu for more than 20 years when the city of Atlanta began the process of turning it into a park with the help of PATH. The 207-acre (84-hectare) Freedom Park was officially dedicated on September 19, 2000 with ribbon cutters Jimmy Carter, then-current Governor Roy Barnes, and Mayor Bill Campbell.

Since then it has hosted a number of outdoor sculpture displays and is a popular jogging, bike riding. and dog-walking park.

[http://www.seeit360.net/fullscreen.php?id=291 Freedom Park Virtual Tour]