Welcoming Spring and a Slow, Steady Return to Downtown

March 29,2021

Wilma Sothern, CAP/ADID Vice President of Marketing, Saporta Report

While CAP/ADID’s work has not slowed or decreased during the pandemic, we have certainly noticed and adjusted to the absence of our usual slate of events and programs. Gone were our in-person Town Hall meetings, complete with pre-function networking and coffee. Paused were our jazz concerts and movie nights and yoga classes in Woodruff Park during warm weather months. Fortunately, a series of virtual events have filled our calendars and kept our members and constituents engaged with our work in the interim.

As we welcome spring, we are seeing “signs of life” of all kinds.

There is the most visual example, of course: the annual blooming of thousands of daffodils across Downtown. The Downtown Daffodil Project, produced in partnership with Am Yisrael Chai! in support of the worldwide Daffodil Project, is both a socially-conscious living Holocaust memorial and beautification project. These bright blooms have been an especially powerful symbol of optimism as we begin to see the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel.

Heading into April, our team is abuzz with outreach and promotional preparation of key CAP/ADID projects and programs. 

Lunch in Woodruff

Work is underway to reinstate the café seating in Woodruff Park to encourage our daytime population to enjoy lunch in the park, with physical distancing and sanitation at the forefront of the experience. We’ll also be highlighting nearby restaurants with picnic-friendly menu options. Follow the park on Facebook and Instagram and stay tuned for more details as they become available. 

Downtown Atlanta Spring Sweat Challenge

Put some spring in your step! Downtown Connects, a transportation program of CAP/ADID, will host the Spring Sweat Challenge April 19-30. In alignment with Downtown Atlanta Master Plan goals to integrate health into the Downtown experience and help Downtowners develop health challenges and designated fitness routes, participants are asked to download Strava, join the Downtown Atlanta Runners Club, and complete and log at least one of six designated Downtown routes to qualify for prizes. Learn more here.

ATL Downtown Counts: Street Homelessness Survey 

Have you wondered about people experiencing homelessness on the streets of Downtown Atlanta – if and how their needs are being addressed? If so, and if you’d like to help, an important event is coming up and volunteers are needed. To accurately advocate for and deploy resources to address street homelessness in Downtown Atlanta, CAP/ADID will coordinate the ATL Downtown Counts: Street Homelessness Survey scheduled on Saturday, May 1, 2021. The completely outdoor, 1-day event will stage at Underground Atlanta to help facilitate adherence to COVID-19 guidelines. Learn more and sign up to volunteer here.

Atlanta Legacy Makers

In Downtown or from home, we invite all community members to engage with Atlanta Legacy Makers: A Tribute to Mayors Allen and Jackson. Launched in 2020 in partnership with the City of Atlanta, the effort aims to create a public space and public art tribute to the civic leaders in Woodruff Park adjacent to the intersection of Peachtree Street and Auburn Avenue. Community members can submit their input on what this commemoration should look like via a brief online feedback tool. Other ways to engage with the project include listening to the podcast series, submitting an oral history, and reading the Gary M. Pomerantz book Where Peachtree Meets Sweet Auburn: A Saga of Race and Family. 

As the city prepares to reopen cautiously and carefully, we can’t wait to welcome you back to the core for the Downtown experiences you know and love or will soon discover.