Atlanta BeltLine donation

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Cox Foundation donates $30 million for Atlanta BeltLine Northwest Trail

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A rendering of the Northwest Trail under Interstate-75.

BY AMY WENK AND COLLIN KELLEY

The James M. Cox Foundation has donated $30 million to the Atlanta BeltLine.

Combined with the $80 million secured late last year from The Robert W. Woodruff Foundation, BeltLine officials say they now have the philanthropic funding needed to finish the 22-mile trail corridor by 2030.

“I’m so excited that this gift will let us finish constructing that big, beautiful circle around Atlanta,” Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said.

According to a BeltLine spokesperson, the donation from the Cox Foundation will specifically fund the construction of the BeltLine’s Northwest Trail, which is currently in design in partnership with the PATH Foundation.

On May 12, a preferred route for a 2.8mile segment of the trail was announced during a public meeting. The segment will begin at the northern end of the Westside Trail at Huff Road and Marietta Boulevard and traverse the Hemphill Water Treatment Plant and Howell Mill Road. The trail will then cross Northside Drive, dip under I-75, and follow a portion of Tanyard Creek until it meets the southern end of the Northside Trail in Ardmore Park.

Officials said more time and community engagement would be required for another segment of the trail that will connect Bobby Jones Golf Course to the Peachtree Hills neighborhood.

The Northwest Trail is a complex project that must navigate a major highway, active railroads and the city’s most famous street, Peachtree. Unlike other parts of the BeltLine, the northwest segment doesn’t have abandoned railroad corridors to repurpose for trails.

The Cox Foundation and its Chairman Jim Kennedy have helped build Atlanta’s trail network through the PATH Foundation since 1991. Kennedy helped launch the BeltLine by co-chairing its first fundraising campaign in 2007 and made an early donation that helped fund the Eastside Trail.

In total, Kennedy and the Cox Foundation have donated $44 million to the BeltLine. “From our experience building the PATH trails, we know what a difference it makes for people to be able to be outside, exercising, meeting neighbors, and building the sense of community we all need,” Kennedy said.

The Cox Foundation is a philanthropic entity of Cox Enterprises, which owns The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The Atlanta Beltline is one of the nation’s most ambitious redevelopment projects. When complete, it will connect 45 neighborhoods through trails, parks, and ultimately transit. The BeltLine also is working to bring jobs and affordable housing to Intown neighborhoods.

“We are incredibly grateful to the James M. Cox Foundation for their support of the Atlanta BeltLine and knitting the city together through a trail network,” said Clyde Higgs, president and CEO of Atlanta BeltLine.

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