• An open terrace plaza and lawn area at the peak of the park’s elevation that will include several small-scale micro-business sites

• An extension of the existing Playtown Suwanee geared toward older children, which will expand the age range of Playtown Suwanee

• Sandpit volleyball courts

• A public art piece

Suwanee City Council approves plan for $12 million park

The area will see a realignment of Main Street, which will shift around the park and exit onto Suwanee Dam Road at an existing traffic signal in hopes of improving the safety and traffic flow, which would allow the median break on Suwanee Dam Road to be closed.

About 15 acres along the existing Brushy Creek Greenway will remain undisturbed.

City officials recently sought feedback from residents and collected more than 1,000 in-person and online surveys of park users. There were four planning workshops, two design charrettes and other meetings and presentations.

The new park design is influenced by the style and quality of Town Center Park, but city officials said it won’t be a replica. Plans call for a a more prominent pedestrian connection to rework City Hall Park into a linkage of the two sites. The topography of Town Center Park West will allow it to overlook Town Center.

“The success of Town Center Park has exceeded all expectations,” Suwanee Mayor Jimmy Burnette said in a press release. “The park draws over 200,000 visitors annually to events, as well as regularly serving our 18,000 citizens. The new Town Center Park West will help ease the demand on the existing park and surrounding community.”

The park will feature a mixture of urban and rural environments, including:

• A roughly 900-foot, elevated signature bridge for pedestrian and bike use, which will span the entire park and cross an approximate one-acre water feature.

Reprinted from Gwinnett Daily Post by Mark Farner