NEWS BRIEF: ‘Significant’ Atlanta park under threat, study says

Deepdene Park, a 22-acre woodland in Druid Hills, is one of a dozen significant landscapes in the United States and Canada said to be threatened or at-risk, according to this year’s Olmsted Design Legacy report. The study is named after Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr., the “father of landscape architecture” best known as the co-designer of New York City’s Central Park.

Currently owned by Fernbank Inc., Deepdene is leased to the DeKalb County Department of Parks and Recreation and is characterized by its steep perimeter edges that slope towards a tributary of the Peavine Creek, the report says, adding that construction and missteps involving drainage have resulted in significant erosion in the park and downstream areas. “While the appreciation and value for Olmsted-designed landscapes in general continues to increase, some landscapes have been less fortunate,” says Charles A. Birnbaum, CEO of the Cultural Landscape Foundation. “Our intent with this report is to foster greater awareness and curiosity about this exceptional legacy, and to encourage a stronger shared responsibility for its future,” Details: tclf.org