Cleopas R. Johnson Park

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In 2008, the Friends of Cleopas R. Johnson Park joined with Park Pride to create a plan intended to breathe new life into a four-acre park near downtown Atlanta. The park, while inviting, was not heavily used, and neighborhood residents decided the playground equipment, most of which was concrete and looked too industrial, should be replaced with more child-friendly equipment. But how to move forward without funding?

With TPL's help, the community groups were awarded a $100,000 grant from the MetLife Foundation and work got underway. Patricia Katz, a landscape architect with the city, designed the new playground, which includes the tallest climbing dome and only circular Neos play equipment in the city. The park also features the blue, red, and purple colors that represent the four colleges in the neighborhood: Morehouse, Spelman, Atlanta, and Morris Brown.

A ribbon cutting ceremony in the spring of 2011 marked the successful conclusion of the project—and the launch of a vibrant new resource for a newly energized community to use and care for.