Cook Park, in Vine City, will have statues honoring Civil Rights leaders.
It’s also being built to alleviate flooding on the Westside.
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said the park will be a new Atlanta landmark.
“On nights that the Falcons football games are being broadcast, when the Goodyear blimp goes up and shows a visual of the city, it will show this park,” Reed said.
Ambassador Andrew Young was at Friday’s event.
Rev.
Dexter Johnson of the Higher Ground Empowerment Center was in the area the night of the 2002 flood, and he came to help residents get out of homes where sewage was seven feet deep.
His church served as a Red Cross center for people who were displaced by the flood.
“We’re very proud of the journey.
We’re excited about what’s happening,” he said of the park.