Light Repairs Coming to Reynoldstown's Gateway Park

REYNOLDSTOWN — By day, Gateway Park, is a welcoming pocket of green, its blue metal sculpture, a nod to this neighborhood's industrial roots.

At night, however, the park, bounded by Moreland and Seaboard avenues and Brantley Street, takes on a more ominous feel.

None of the park's six lights are functional, creating a potential opportunity for muggings or violent attacks of pedestrians headed to or from the nearby Inman Park Reynoldstown MARTA station or the Edgewood Retail District.

It's an observation that Jeffrey Landers, past president of the Reynoldstown Civic Improvement League and current board member, made roughly two years ago with city officials when some of the lights were still functioning.

The problem?: The city's parks department said it isn't responsible; MARTA is as owner of the property. Indeed, Gateway Park isn't even listed among the parks maintained by the city.

Landers said MARTA meanwhile, told him it's the city's job because the transit authority doesn't own the land, the city does.

MARTA spokesman Lyle Harris told East Atlanta Patch the land is not one of its properties.

City tax records show the tract is owned by the city.

"We've been going round and round and round for a couple of years," Landers told Patch, adding the neighborhood's concerns have been heightened in recent weeks following an outbreak of violent crime across Southeast Atlanta, including a pair of armed robberies in Reynoldstown on May 25.

"I’ve called everybody I can think of and everybody shirks their responsibility," Landers said. "I'm just concerned with the things happening in East Atlanta and Grant Park."

Doug Voss the city's parks director, told Patch on Tuesday that Gateway Park is his department's responsibility.

"We have already set up a service request," Voss wrote in an e-mail response to an inquiry about the situation.

"Not sure why this was previously thought to be MARTA, but thanks for bringing this to our attention. Our customer service number is 404.546.6813."

The timetable for when the repairs will be completed is little less definitive, Voss said.

"We have a 10-business-day service inspection target," he said. "We really can not give a true time-frame."