Anyone know if Music Midtown damaged Piedmont Park? (Atlanta, Decatur: theater, income)

[gerrythesnake]

Originally Posted by CAWjr

Good call. Can anyone cite how long the meadow was shut down after the PRR or Dogwood? Especially the 2013 PRR which arguably caused more damage than MM.

This might help

Tour De Fat - Why does the 60 day permit limit apply to Piedmont Park and not CP? | Candler Park Neighborhood Organization

Why does the 60 day permit limit apply to Piedmont Park and not CP?

Susanne, good question, I was curious about that too. I called the Mayor's Office of Special Events to ask about it, and they referred me to Adrienne Wright in the Parks Dept. Here is what she told me:
The reason for having the space between events is to allow time for the site to recover, and for any damage to be addressed. This required wait time depends on the class of festival (which is determined by number of attendees):

Class A = 5 weeks
Class B = 4 weeks
Class C = 3 weeks
Class D = 2 weeks
Class E = 1 week

The Tour de Fat (a class D festival) was originally scheduled to be in Piedmont Park. The Parks Dept needed to move it since it was too close to the Dogwood Festival (a class A festival, even larger than Sweetwater). They looked at moving it back to O4W Park, where it had been previously, but there was another event within a week of the Tour de Fat event date. So, in looking at the various options, they felt that Candler Park was a better fit than the alternatives.
Sweetwater (a class B festival held on April 19-21) and Tour de Fat (a class D festival to be held on May 11) should technically be four weeks apart, and the gap will fall a little short of that. However, the Parks Dept made an exception while requiring a couple of things:
1) The organizers of Sweetwater and Tour de Fat will be required to work together to remediate the area (fertilization & aeration at a minimum, possibly sod depending on extent of damage), with Sweetwater covering the majority of it since they are the larger festival.
2) The Parks Dept worked with the Tour de Fat event organizer to relocate infrastructure to minimize impact to the park (in other words, don't put big, heavy things in the same place twice).

[MathmanMathman]

Originally Posted by JPD

I only ever hear the whining from Midtown people. You never hear Cabbagetown residents complain during or after Chomp and Stomp. Or Candler Park people complain during any of the massive events in their park. Or EAV people complaining about the East Atlanta Strut. Or Va-Hi people complain about Summerfest. Or Decatur people complaining about Book Festival. Or Downtown people complain about Dragon Con parade. Etc.

What are Midtown people so quick to complain?

As for the Dragon Con parade, it's early on Saturday morning and by 10 am, it's over.

[atltechdude]

Originally Posted by AnsleyPark

Why should folks having fun for a weekend so adversely impact others' use of the park for a much longer period?

Well that obviously was not the intent. There would have been much less damage had it not rained. You can't control mother nature.

[JPD]

Originally Posted by MathmanMathman

As for the Dragon Con parade, it's early on Saturday morning and by 10 am, it's over.

Your point is?

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by CAWjr

The WHOLE meadow is shut down? They have blocked off that entire area?

That section of the park was pretty thoroughly trashed.

[AnsleyPark]

Originally Posted by atltechdude

Well that obviously was not the intent. There would have been much less damage had it not rained. You can't control mother nature.

But, you can control where events are held.

[gtjared]

Originally Posted by arjay57

That section of the park was pretty thoroughly trashed.

Ok so that top picture is the dog park..... That's mulch...



Do you even know your way around the park..?

[JPD]

Originally Posted by AnsleyPark

But, you can control where events are held.

So, where should it have been held? The middle of the street? A parking lot? A park in a less rich neighborhood where people don't have the luxury of complaining online afterwards?

These days, festivals throughout the country compete with each other. People travel to go to these things. In order for Music Midtown to be competitive, it has to deliver a better product today than it did in the '90s, before there were other options in the region such as Bonnaroo (held on a farm in Tennessee), Hangout (on a beach in Alabama), Shaky Knees (at 4th ward Park*) etc. Nobody wants to stand on concrete for these things. That means this event needs to be held on grass, preferably with hills and trees.

*It rained all day at this one, too, and probably damaged some grass. Were you upset about that?

[CAWjr]

Originally Posted by arjay57

That section of the park was pretty thoroughly trashed.

You do realize that the first picture you posted is the dog park that is covered in mulch & always looks like that...right?

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by CAWjr

You do realize that the first picture you posted is the dog park that is covered in mulch & always looks like that...right?

Not the second one. It looks terrible.