Ebenezer Downs park Archives

Ebenezer Road park, Cobb parks master plan

Cobb commissioners on Tuesday approved a design contract for Ebenezer Downs Park.

By a 5-0 vote, they approved spending $238,450 for Pond & Company, an architectural and engineering firm in Peachtree Corners, to do the work.

“Long time coming, we’re all excited,” commissioner JoAnn Birrell said in making the motion to approve the contract. “Let’s get started.”

Pond & Company recreational projects include the Mableton Town Square, the West End BeltLine Trail in Atlanta and Atlanta BeltLine Corridor design.

Ebenezer Downs Park sits on 18 acres on Ebenezer Road near Canton Road and includes a lake, which has been used for recreational fishing, including Cobb PARKS fishing rodeos.

The park’s master plan for a passive park also include a lakeside pavilion, walking trails, a playground and a 30-space parking lot. One of the former homes on the site would be used for small events, including wedding receptions and private parties, and public restroom facilities would be built.

Included in the design contract are cost estimating, bidding assistance and construction administration services.

The county purchased the property in 2018 with proceeds from the 2008 Cobb Parks Bond referendum.

Funding for the design and construction comes from the 2022 Cobb SPLOST (Special Local-Option Sales Tax), with a cap of $3 million.

A construction timeline hasn’t been announced; a contract for construction will require separate approval by commissioners.

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Ebenezer Road park, Cobb parks master plan

After the Cobb Board of Commissioners approved a master plan for the new Ebenezer Road park property Monday night, commissioner JoAnn Birrell said the name of the 18-acre park would be Ebenezer Downs.

The master plan approval came on a 4-0 vote (with commissioner Bob Ott absent), and after a brief presentation by Cobb parks director Jimmy Gisi (previous ECN post here).

The land at Ebenezer and Canton Road was two homesteads that features a lake and wooded areas.

The features of the master plan are a fishing lake and lakeside pavilion, walking trails, a playground, a 30-space parking lot. One of the homes would be used for small events, including wedding receptions and private parties, and public restroom facilities would be built.

The entry to the park would be aligned with the Ebenezer Road entrance to Noonday Baptist Church.

Gisi said community suggestions during public feedback meetings in recent months that the county took back to its parks consultant resulted in a better master plan.

“It’s a beautiful piece of property,” Birrell said. “I go by there a lot and people are fishing all the time.”

The master plan approval does not include park construction; that funding would have to approved separately by the commissioners and no timetable for that consideration has been announced.

Proposed Ebenezer Road park master plan

Also on Monday, commissioners approved spending $373,000 in 2016 SPLOST funds for an operations barn at Hyde Farm in East Cobb. Gisi said construction is expected to be completed by next June.

Also approved was relocation of parking space at the Mountain View Community Center, costing $572,000 due to the adjacent Sandy Plains MarketPlace that’s in private development.

The county formerly shared parking with Mountain View Elementary School before it relocated to make way for the retail center.

Commissioners also voted to rename the East Cobb Senior Center the Tim D. Lee Center, in the memory of the late Cobb commission chairman (previous ECN story here).

Lee’s widow and children were in attendance, as was former chairman Sam Olens, who like Lee served District 3 in Northeast Cobb on the commission.

Commission chairman Mike Boyce also presented a proclamation to Tejas Veedhulur of Boy Scout Troop 1776 for his Eagle Scout project cleaning up the Gold Branch of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area off Lower Roswell Road.

The troop meets at the Catholic Church of St. Ann.

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!