Mayor unveils zoo’s new parking garage

Unlike current free parking for zoo, $48M facility will have a fee.

A 1,000-space parking garage planned for Grant Park and Zoo Atlanta will include a restaurant, outdoor greenspace and a way to harvest rainfall, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said Tuesday.

The $48 million garage, much of which will be constructed underground, will also include vegetation designed to reduce runoff from storms and offer a parking system that can detect available parking spaces, Reed said in an early morning press conference to unveil the project.

“We’re calling this facility the Grant Park Gateway because it’s going to provide an entirely new way of looking at the entrance to one of our city’s truly historic sites,” Reed said.

But unlike current free parking at the zoo, space at the new garage will come with a fee. Reed said how much parking will cost has not yet been determined.

The garage, which will begin construction later this year, comes as Zoo Atlanta had just shy of 1 million visitors last year, close to its peak of 1 million-plus guests in 2000 when pandas Lun Lun and Yang Yang first arrived.

The zoo also is investing close to $100 million in an expansion of its footprint expected to be complete in 2019. Grant Park and other areas near Turner Field could also see more foot traffic in the years to come as Georgia State University and developer Carter & Associates plan a $130 million mixeduse redevelopment of the former home of the Atlanta Braves.

“The existing parking facilities do not serve the park, the zoo or the neighborhood,” Reed said. “We know we will need additional capacity at the zoo as it becomes a more popular attraction.”

Reed said the restaurant will offer regional food “in a sitdown setting,” but did not offer other details. The garage also will include security cameras linked with the city’s video surveillance to provide safety, an issue important to the community.

The Atlanta City Council in March agreed to float over $30 million in bonds for the project.

City Councilwoman Carla Smith, who represents the area, said at the March meeting that the idea of a pay lot could put the kibosh on the bad habits of some zoo visitors. She said some visitors leave behind trash after having cookouts in the free lot, taking up spaces that others could use to park their vehicles.

“We kind of take free stuff for granted and we are not respectful,” she said

DAVID BARNES PHOTOS / DAVID.BARNES@AJC.COM Amy Phuong, commissioner of the Department of Parks and Recreation, and Mayor Kasim Reed reveal renderings of the Grant Park Gateway Project on Tuesday.

Councilwoman Carla Smith, District 1, speaks to Reed. The Grant Park Gateway Project aims to alleviate traffic and address a lack of parking by constructing a new parking garage near Zoo Atlanta on Boulevard. The garage will begin construction this year.