Paces Mill Park to Close for Upgrades

CUMBERLAND — Paces Mill Park will soon close to undergo phase one of its long-awaited $15.8 million facelift.

The exact date of closure has not yet been determined, but it will be shortly after Labor Day, per Megan Will, director of planning and projects for the Cumberland Community Improvement District (CCID).

“We really are right at the cusp of construction for the project,” Will said.

The park, which sits just off Cobb Parkway on the west side of the Chattahoochee River, is expected to reopen in late spring 2025, upon the completion of phase one.

Phase one will bring a new parking lot, increased river access, a new picnic area and new plumbing for the restrooms.

The CCID Board unanimously approved $295,000 in construction administration and management costs at its Thursday meeting, pushing forward the highly anticipated project, dubbed New Day Palisades.

In 2020, the CCID, a self-taxing district of commercial property owners who fund infrastructure improvements within Cumberland, received approval from the National Park Service to move forward with the project.

Plans were unveiled in 2021, when the CCID said it wanted to give the area a “more national park-like visitor experience.”

In December, the CCID board voted unanimously to allocate $3.3 million in funding for the project. The CCID had already spent $1 on pre-construction study and design.

Congressional earmarks delivered in the 2022 and 2024 fiscal year covered the remaining $2 million put toward funding the $6.3 million phase one of the project.

Fundraising for the $9.5 million phase two will be led by One Cumberland, the CCID’s nonprofit arm, and targeted at businesses, individuals and foundations.

Phase two of the project will include renovating the bathrooms, construction of a new visitor information center and expanded river entry points. That part of the project is scheduled to begin in fall 2026 and be completed in spring 2027.

While the park is closed for phase one, there will be no access to parking, trails or the river for visitors. Adam Ross, director of public and government affairs for the CCID, said there will be one boat ramp open for emergency use only.

Ross said the CCID has already placed eight-foot-tall signs throughout the park and along the river warning people about the impending closure, and has sent volunteers to Paces Mill to engage with park-goers and answer their questions.

“Ninety-nine percent of the people we’ve talked to, we’ve gotten positive feedback. Of course, a lot of people are disappointed that it’s gonna be closed and they can’t access trails from Paces Mill, but once people understand the vision and what’s going on, the reaction’s been very positive,” Ross said. “... Most people love that park, and they want to see it rehabilitated.”

According to the CCID, the 22-acre Paces Mill Park sees some 270,000 visitors each year, making it one of the most popular units of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area (CRNRA).

Kim Menefee, executive director of the CCID, said the project speaks to the very reasons President Jimmy Carter created the CRNRA in 1978.

“Just to see the value in this connection to the river and what it means to an urban area,” Menefee said. “Not only like Cumberland, but really, the entire river.”

The CCID will hold a ceremonial groundbreaking for New Day Palisades Tuesday.

For more information on the project, visit NewDayPalisades.org