With a grant from the Kendeda Fund, the Chastain Park Conservancy has teamed up with Southern Home Performance to minimize environmental impact and maximize the efficiency of Chastain Park building facilities.

The Chastain Park Sustainability Project is made possible by a grant from the Kendeda Fund. The project was implemented to reduce the total energy costs to the City of Atlanta by 20 to 25 percent for the Chastain Park buildings. The Chastain Park Sustainability Project is expected to save more than $40,000 a year in operating costs.

Southern Home Performance and Lighting Technologies worked with the CPC to implement the energy saving improvements including managing the heating, ventilation and air conditioning, building envelope and lighting components of the project. Southern Home Performance pledged $41,736 in services to the project as well.

“We are fortunate to be able to partner with wonderful organizations, such as the Kendeda Fund and businesses like Southern Home Performance to make Chastain Park greener by cutting operating expenses and consumption by more than 25 percent at Chastain Park,” said Gip Johnston, Executive Director of the CPC. “It has been a wonderful opportunity for the CPC to lead this sustainability initiative for the City of Atlanta, our partners and our great Park.”

Improvements were made in the NYO Gym, NYO Dowis Building, Arts Center, Golf Clubhouse, Chastain Horse Park, Chastain Amphitheatre, American Legion House and the CPC Office.

Chastain Arts Center

Old units were all 5 tons each, randomly assigned throughout the building.

New units were specifically designed for their spaces and range from 2 to 3.5 Tons Each

Building Knee Walls to separate conditioned space from non-conditioned space

Installing the foam provides insulation and seals all air penetration.

North Fulton Golf Course Clubhouse

Old Ventilation louvers were missing and several penetrations had been made over the years.

The black paint covered the insulation and imperfections in color matching as well as enhancing the beauty of the large beams.

Custom designed lighting enhances the appearance and provides excellent performance.

The new space is more efficient and truer to the building’s original design intent.

Recycling Bins being Installed in Park

As you walk and run through the park, you will notice that our new recycling bins are being installed throughout the Park in 45 locations.  These beautiful high quality bins were provided as part of the Chastain Park Sustainability program through the grant from the Kendeda Fund.  In addition, the grant also pays for a three year service agreement to service the bins.  This program will save the City of Atlanta operational costs while making our park cleaner and greener.  All bins are placed close to trash cans so you can separate your waste.  Thanks to the Kendeda Fund for making this initiative possible!

These concrete pads are bases for our recycling bins that are currently being installed.

Save the Date for the Chastain Park TriPATHlon!

Join us for the second annual Mercedes Benz of Buckhead TriPATHlon on Sunday, May 6, 2012.  PATH Foundation, Chastain Park Conservancy and Chastain Park Athletic Center are teaming together once again to bring this great event to Chastain Park.  The TriPATHlon includes a 400 yard pool swim, 15 mile bike ride and 5K run.  Registration is open now and spaces will fill quickly.  Click here to register. http://www.tripathlonatlanta.com

Hats off to all our Volunteers!

The Chastain Park Conservancy would like to thank the many volunteers who invested their time and energy into making Chastain Park a wonderful place to visit!  During the year 2011, we hosted over 60 volunteer groups for a total of 2,489 volunteers!  That’s over 11,390 volunteer hours.  Thanks for all your time and efforts!

Working on “Big Ideas” for Chastain Park.

Chastain Park Conservancy Board of Directors

Members of the Chastain Park Conservancy Board of Directors met Saturday, January 7^th at the Chastain Horse Park for their annual board retreat and to discuss  ideas on how to continue to make the Park cleaner, greener and safer.  Projects that were discussed included the current recycling bin program and installation, continuing the sustainability program, a potential playground renovation and north end improvement and a possible CPC golf cart shuttle to relieve parking on Wieuca during peak traffic hours.  Stay tuned for details!

 Around the Park  . . .

Some of you may have noticed the orange dots on the trees near the playground.  We are currently marking the trees so they can be counted for a survey for a future master plan project.  Don’t worry – our beautiful trees will stay right where they are!

About Us . . .

Founded in 2003, the Chastain Park Conservancy (CPC) is a volunteer, not-for-profit, organization dedicated to stewardship and renewal of Chastain Park’s natural and developed resources. The Conservancy is a grass roots organization whose Board of Directors and active volunteers are committed to reaching the parks full potential as a world-class source of recreation, entertainment and pride.

Our mission: to preserve that which makes the park an oasis of natural beauty, while overseeing ongoing improvements designed to enhance the Chastain Park experience for current and future generations of visitors.

Learn more at http://www.ChastainParkConservancy.org

Sincerely,

Gip Johnston, Executive Director
Chastain Park Conservancy

 The January 2012 Chastain Park Conservancy newsletter was brought to you by:

The event is scheduled for Thursday, October 6th at the Chastain Park Amphitheatre.

You will have the opportunity to mix and mingle with neighbors and friends while enjoying a silent auction, live music, full bar and fabulous food from area restaurants.

Tickets are $100 and can be purchased on our website at http://www.ChastainParkConservancy.org/on-a-green-night.html

The 25 students and 2 teachers weeded the gulch parking lot embankment and watered the new sod.

Thanks to all our volunteers from Whitefield Academy!

Also…

CPC will host 30 volunteers over Labor Day weekend and 5 more volunteer groups in September.

If your group would like to volunteer at Chastain Park, please contact Ray Mock at href=”mailto:ray@chastainparkconservancy.org”>ray@chastainparkconservancy.org.

Location: Hilltop Fields of Chastain Park

Parking is available along Park Drive adjacent to the fields.

Please RSVP to Gip Johnston at gip@chastainparkconservancy.org or 404-237-2177.

CPC board members along with fall fundraiser planning committee members selected the finalists in May.  Finalists will receive CPC hats and stickers and an invitation to attend the event with their parents.  The winning submission will be selected from the finalists.

“These students are a very talented group.  Selecting the finalists was not an easy task,” said Gip Johnston, CPC Executive Director.  “Most of these students live around the Park, played sports at NYO and enjoyed the Park amenities so they have a love for the Park which certainly showed through their creative art.”

Click here to view the finalists’ artwork submission.

CPC is proud to be the sponsor the Odyssey of Mind team which is an international education program that provides creative problem solving opportunities for students.    Teams of students apply their creativity to solve problems that range from building mechanical devices to presenting their own interpretation of literary classics.  Students are rewarded for how they resolve the issue and their creativity.

Participants in the Mind World Finals include teams from United States along with students from 25 other countries.  The CPC team placed in the state competition and qualified to proceed to the World Finals.

The students enjoy participating and believe that the program has made a positive impact on their confidence, work ethic and problem solving ability.

Over 300 employees from Target Corporation volunteered at the Park in May and completed a variety of projects.

Volunteers stained benches, swings and picnic tables; painted the chain link fence at the golf course; planted over 662 plants on the embankment at the gulch parking lot; chipped trails in the north woods and mulched trees in the playground meadow area. This was a hard working bunch that contributed 900 man hours to beautify the Park.

Thanks to all at Target!

Ray Mock
Director of Operations

The weather was picture perfect for the event!

The TriPATHlon was held to recognize the PATH Foundation’s 20th anniversary and proceeds benefited PATH, Chastain Park Conservancy and Chastain Park Athletic Club.

Georgia MultiSports Productions produced the event. TriPATHlon was a USA Triathlon sanctioned event and consisted of a 400 year pool swim, 15 mile bike ride and 5K run.

Awards went to overall the over all top three finishers, Masters top three, Athena top three, Clydesdale 200 plus top three along with age group categories.

Overall female was Shannon Greenhill with a time of 1:17 and overall male was Stuart Makinson with a time of 1:09. For more results, click here.

Chastain Park Conservancy would like to thank Mercedes-Benz of Buckhead, Georgia MultiSports Productions, PATH Foundation and Chastain Park Athletic Club for all their efforts in making this a successful event.

To view the TriPATHlon picture gallery, click here.

They also constructed stairs up a steep trail leading to and from the playground and the restrooms in the Arts Center.

Kimberly-Clark paid for the plants and building materials and donated $500.00 cash to the conservancy.

Thank you Kimberly-Clark volunteers!

“The installation of four new cameras are a needed addition and will go along way to detour crime in and around the Park,” said Gip Johnston, CPC Executive Director.

The majority of the new cameras will be installed near the red and yellow parking lots north of the horse park.  These lots will become the main parking area for runners and walkers as all the PATH and trail distances will be re-calculated to start from the red parking lot.  Possible locations for the other cameras include the busy intersection of West Wieuca and Powers Ferry near the new tennis center.

“We are working with our park partners and the Atlanta Police Department to have all cameras monitored by the APD or a local community governing body,” said Johnston.