How do you turn a parking lot into a park?

ajc.com

Credit: Nedra Rhone

Credit: Nedra Rhone

How do you turn a parking lot into a park?

Last week a group of locals showed how to get it done by turning a sever parking spaces in a parking lot in Buckhead into temporary parks.

Each September, on the third Friday of the month, citizens, artists and activists around the globe collaborate to temporarily transform parking spaces reserved for cars into temporary public parks for PARK(ing) Day.

Landscape architect and planning firm, HGOR teamed up with Collins Cooper Carusi Architects to create one the park pictured in the this story.

This year, Lenox Square offered 24 dedicated parking spaces along its front walkway (in the lot fronting Peachtree Road) as the PARK(ing) Day venue.

Participants have built free health clinics, planted temporary urban farms, produced ecology demonstrations, built art installations and more in other parts of the country.

The local event also included food trucks and the chance to vote for your favorite park.

The purpose was to show the value of having more greenspace in Atlanta communities, particularly in Buckhead -- which is known for its lack of public parks.

Passerby were invited to enjoy the park spaces during for a few hours in the afternoon -- they went up about 11 a.m. and by 2 p.m the concrete jungle had returned.

Here's a video of how it all went down:

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid2418610043001?bctid=5133361982001