North Highland Park Update

Over Half of Debt Retired

By Pamela Papner, Virginia-Highland Conservation League

Anyone new to the neighborhood might not know that in December of 2008, the Virginia-Highland Civic Association, Inc. (VHCA) closed on the purchase of two lots at 1076 and 1082 St. Charles Place, at the corner of St. Charles Place and North Highland Avenue. Formerly the site of a public library, these lots had remained vacant and often overgrown for more than ten years. Financing for the acquisition came through the Georgia Land Conservation Program (GLCP). VHCA was the first non-profit in the state to be approved for funding under this program.

The association raised almost $160,000 (including a $50,000 grant from Park Pride), and the two lots were developed as an environmentally-friendly, passive park for the community’s residents and visitors. The park opened on March 16, 2013.

In contrast to city-owned and maintained parks, North Highland Park is privately-owned by our neighborhood through VHCA. The park is not only a respite from asphalt and noise; it is also a bio-retention project for stormwater management. A rainwater garden and a large selection of native foliage capture and hold rainfall on site instead of sending it to the city’s stormwater system. Soil and plants naturally remove pollutants from stormwater. This park is also a major element in the future of the Atkins Park commercial area, the rejuvenation of which was one of the many focus points of the Virginia-Highland Master Plan.

VHCA pays the debt on the park through proceeds raised by our major fundraising efforts – Summerfest and the Tour of Homes – and additional  events sponsored by the Association’s fundraising arm, the Virginia-Highland Conservation League, Inc. (VHCL). Our goal is to pay off the mortgage as soon as possible to ensure the park remains ours forever. To that end, VHCA has made several additional payments over the past two years to further reduce the principal balance on the loan.

We are excited to report that one neighbor who is passionate about the park recently gave us an extremely generous donation of $27,000! We are very excited about this gift and will be adding funds to pay down the mortgage by an additional $35,000. We thank this generous benefactor – who wishes to remain anonymous – so much!

By April 1, 2015 the remaining balance on the loan will be ~$432,000, which means we will have retired over half of the initial debt in just over 6 years of the 15-year GLCP loan term. While we are very happy about that, we still have more money to rise, and we have not lost sight of the end goal of retiring the debt completely. Plans are already underway for this year’s Summerfest, which has been a solid money-maker for our community. If any residents wish to spearhead fundraising ideas, please contact me at [email protected].

Buy a Brick to Support North Highland Park

Residents who have followed this project know that a significant amount of revenue for the park’s construction came from the sale of engraved bricks that are installed along the sidewalk that runs along St. Charles Place. Brick sales brought in more than $38,000 – one brick/one $100 donation at a time. After park construction was completed, we realized we still had space for more bricks. The excitement surrounding the opening of the new park enabled us to sell 24 more bricks; however, we need to sell another 37 before it’s economically feasible for us to engrave and install the final group of bricks.

We are asking the community to help us sell those final 37 bricks! Please consider ordering one so that we can complete this final wave.  If you order a brick, you can have it engraved with up to 3 lines (14 characters, including spaces). Please consider doing so! You can purchase a brick online – or simply contribute to the park – at https://vahi.org/parks/contribute.  If you order a brick as a gift, you will receive a certificate suitable for gift-giving.

Thank you and we hope to see you in North Highland Park soon!