Decatur, GA — The Legacy Decatur Board, at its Jan. 27 meeting, discussed updates on various ongoing projects.

Legacy Decatur has received a grant to build an accessible playground. Legacy Decatur Executive Director Lyn Menne anticipates getting that installed this year.

The playground on the south side of the park, near Hyatt Cottage, will be expanded, and accessible playground equipment will be installed.

“It’ll be bigger, but it’ll be in that area,” Menne said. “Ultimately, when we take Kerr Cottage down for parking, it’ll be easier to put in some more handicapped parking right [next] to that playground.”

The South Housing Village affordable housing project is moving forward. The Decatur Housing Authority has tentatively scheduled an open house for Feb. 28 at Legacy Park, so residents can see the site plans and design.

The Decatur Housing Authority will apply for low-income housing tax credits. Menne said DHA should be notified from the state about whether they received the tax credits this fall. If everything moves forward, construction is anticipated to start in April 2023 on the first phase of the project.

Additionally, Legacy Decatur is working with Oakhurst resident Adam Pinsley to design a new logo and signs for the park. The board hopes to incorporate a new logo that features a building covered by trees.

The design concept also features various icons that will be incorporated on the signs to guide patrons to various locations throughout Legacy Park or inform them of park rules. Icons could include ones identifying a building or area as handicap accessible or notifying patrons that they must have their dog on a leash.

“This iconography is going to very consistent with your national park, your state park iconography,” Pinsley said. “People should see these. As a frequent park goers, they should be familiar with these icons. In the case where we do need another one, we certainly can create that.”

Signs could include a gateway sign upon entering the park, vehicular directional signage to guide people as they are driving, signs to direct pedestrians, and signs that identify the buildings, among other signs.

Other signs may display the park rules, maps and kiosks with information related to the park or buildings or various nature habitats at the park. For the signs identifying the buildings, there will be opportunities for the tenants of the buildings to add their logo to the sign.

The board approved the design of the signs. Pinsley will work with Menne to develop a budget, create prototypes of the signs and phase out the project.

In addition to rebranding the signs at the park, the board is working with Scott Doyon to design that graphic for a new website that will be specific to Legacy Park. The website will be a resource for general information about Legacy Park, the types of events and uses of the park, as well as rental schedules and fees.

“For the website specifically for the park, we set out to create something that could grow to accommodate future needs of the park, but something that we could get out of the gate now that provides a solid resource for people to one, learn about what the park is — it’s past, it’s future, how it fits into Decatur — second, how to get here, and third, the things to do once you’re here,” Doyon said.

The website will additionally feature information on how to donate to Legacy Decatur, how to volunteer, the latest news about the park, information about using the park as a wedding venue, and will have an events calendar.

The current website will shift to focus solely on the Legacy Decatur board and their work.

“This just gives us a chance to separate what we do as an organization and focus specifically on the park,” Menne said.

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