Anyone know if Music Midtown damaged Piedmont Park? (Atlanta: how much, fencing)

[arjay57]

Been involved for a long time. By all means feel free to come on down and put your oar in the water.

[AnsleyPark]

Originally Posted by CAWjr

But if it is something that clearly is important to you, Ansley, and the Conservancy, do whatever it takes to enact change. Get people on the inside of that office. Even if you can't get your people in there, get in with the people that are in there & enact the mentality change.

I'm not saying that you will be able to stop popular events like the PRR & MM, but maybe you can enact clauses in the city contracts where the conservancy manages cleanup & repair efforts & gets funding for that direct from the organizer.

Standing in your yard & complaining won't stop anything.
Posting on an anonymous message board won't stop anything.
Taking the fight directly to the source will have a greater impact than anything. It may not be the one you want, but at least you did more than just gripe to the moon.

The director of parks is a position appointed by the mayor. The conservancies have absolutely no say in it. The conservancies are allowed to operate by the city because they free up city money and resources and provide an invaluable public service. But, again, the city owns the parks.

[AnsleyPark]

Originally Posted by CAWjr

But if it is something that clearly is important to you, Ansley, and the Conservancy, do whatever it takes to enact change. Get people on the inside of that office. Even if you can't get your people in there, get in with the people that are in there & enact the mentality change.

I'm not saying that you will be able to stop popular events like the PRR & MM, but maybe you can enact clauses in the city contracts where the conservancy manages cleanup & repair efforts & gets funding for that direct from the organizer.

Standing in your yard & complaining won't stop anything.
Posting on an anonymous message board won't stop anything.
Taking the fight directly to the source will have a greater impact than anything. It may not be the one you want, but at least you did more than just gripe to the moon.

Standing in my yard? Please read my earlier posts. Thank you.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by AnsleyPark

Can't speak for what went on this year. The Conservancy's goal is to maintain the beauty of the park and make it more attractive and more accessible to all folks - not just some. The Conservancy does not care to see the park damaged in any way. Some damage is to be expected and is unavoidable just given the fragile nature of the flora that makes the park so beautiful. Other damage is considered extraordinary - such as large scale grass death. Yes, it can be green again by next spring, but that grass will not have taken root as deeply as it would and will be more succeptable to over-use, strains of extreme weather (drought or too much rain) and disease. Very large events with alcohol also result in out-of-the-ordinary damage to park-based facilities, non-grass plant life, etc.

The Conservancy certainly does support events like the Dogwood Festival, which while inflicting some damage to the park does not come close to the damage caused by several other events. You might wonder, then, why the Conservancy would support the Green Concert. The Green Concert is an every other year or so concert sponsored and promoted by the Conservancy. Yes, damage to the park occurs. However, it does raise lots of cash for things such as the northwest expansion, park maintenance, and the like. Further, the Conservancy controls it - limiting the number of tickets, alcohol sales, security, etc. So, the damage is generally limited and offset by the benefits that the park receives. MM, on the other hand, does nothing to benefit the park financially, aesthetically, or otherwise. For many of us, that's a big rub, and, as you can see, I'm something of a park fanatic.

Ansley, thank you for your many years of hard work and investment in the park.

Without folks like you, we wouldn't have it. Some of us are old enough to remember Piedmont Park before the conservancy adopted it.

[NativeJr]

Originally Posted by JPD

Because we were in a drought then.

There was a little more to it than that.

[NativeJr]

Originally Posted by gerrythesnake

They do that for any large event at PP. This isnt anything new

No, they don't.

[NativeJr]

Originally Posted by JPD

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?

There needs to be a policy to deal with weather bad enough to severe damage the park. The adults need to step in and say, no, not today, not here.

[NativeJr]

Originally Posted by CAWjr

And for the third time I will post the pictures from the day after MM. You can clearly see the entire meadow & that only small sections of the meadow were turned into mud pits. There are other areas that saw more damage, but again, the park is not wasted.

Of course, I don't expect you to watch it as that would derail your whole argument that the entire park has been destroyed & should be permanently off limits to anyone with a net income of less than $500k/year.

2013 Music Midtown The Day After - YouTube

I've walked the meadow. Your video does not represent the amount or extent of damage.

[NativeJr]

Originally Posted by gtjared

I walked by the park the next day and it really didn't look that bad. This must have been the morning after before it dried out a bit. Again that was a very small area anyway.

You must have had your blinders on.

[NativeJr]

Originally Posted by arjay57

Ansley, thank you for your many years of hard work and investment in the park.

Without folks like you, we wouldn't have it. Some of us are old enough to remember Piedmont Park before the conservancy adopted it.

Well said!

I'm old enough to remember.

Thanks for your service!