ATLANTA — The former Atlanta Medical Center site is one step closer to redevelopment after Wellstar and Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens offered their support for the concept plan.
"Mayor Andre Dickens and Wellstar Health System fully support the Atlanta City Council’s decision to approve Kimley-Horn’s proposed concept plan to transform Wellstar’s property in the Old Fourth Ward," the joint statement said. "Atlanta’s Department of City Planning met with the community and incorporated a great amount of input about what they wanted —including mixed-use development, central greenspace, maintaining some medical use on the site, new street connections and more."
The massive property in the heart of the Old Fourth Ward has been under a development moratorium for nearly two years. It's set to expire in November, which will pave the way for something new.
“We are committed to working together to develop a long-term plan that will best meet the needs of the community and Metro Atlanta," the joint statement said. "We look forward to continuing our partnership and collaborating with residents on a community-driven solution for this important site.”
Atlanta City Councilwoman Liliana Bakhtiari is excited to see what the new project brings. She said a key component is keeping healthcare on site.
"One of the biggest things is Wellstar has said that they are going to do something wellness-related and work with health care providers in order to accomplish that," she told 11Alive. "The other thing I'm personally excited about is that we're going to see demolition of certain things on this site which the city can tie subsidies into, which will encourage things like deep affordability and housing and multimodal connectivity."
Some people, however, worry this project won't be the right fit for the community. For example, Kierra Stanford, with the New Georgia Project, hoped to see a hospital reopen.
"Entire families are now seeking healthcare services farther away," she said. "We know Grady's wait times in their emergency rooms are exacerbated... but we don't think about things like the mental health services and the rehab services that AMC had and gave to the community."
She also worries about gentrification in the Old Fourth Ward.
"I feel like I've been angry for so long, hot for so long when we look at gentrification in Atlanta," she said. "What once was Georgia Baptist, a hospital started by Black people in a church who needed health care services, [will now] be torn down and looked at as just extending the BeltLine, putting in a pool, these different things."
The historic facade will likely be preserved, according to the concept plans, but some portions of the former Atlanta Medical Center will need to be demolished.
Stanford plans to continue advocating for more community-based resources on that site.
"When we all put our voice in, we can make real change," she said. "Please get out there and talk to the people that represent you."
Bakhtiari said community input will continue to be a key part of this project.
"What's going to happen is the moratorium will lapse... and essentially the selling and the development can then begin based on what we what the council has put through, based on the listening sessions with the community and based on the agreement with Wellstar," she said. "There's going to be a lot of stakeholders."