Atlanta Botanical Garden to break ground on Beltline connection in 2025

October 21st, 2024

For the first time, pedestrians and bikers on the Beltline will enjoy direct access to a major cultural attraction, as the Atlanta Garden Gateway project will expand the Botanical Garden footprint by 8 acres, opening out on to a Beltline Plaza. (Courtesy of Atlanta Beltline)

An exciting new evolution of Atlanta’s connected greenspace is underway at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. For the first time, pedestrians and bikers on the Beltline will enjoy direct access to a major cultural attraction, as the Atlanta Garden Gateway project will expand the Botanical Garden footprint by 8 acres, opening out onto a Beltline Plaza.

Atlanta Botanical Garden President and CEO Mary Pat Matheson recently joined “City Lights” host Lois Reitzes to discuss the upcoming changes.

“We’ll still be one garden, but we’ll have two front doors,” says Matheson, “One for the cars coming in and the other one for people on the Beltline… We anticipate that we will open in the summer or fall of 2027.”

The Botanical Garden anticipates breaking ground for the new additions in 2025, largely with the help of an astronomical $150 million capital campaign. A good portion of the money will go towards building an endowment to support the gardens in the coming years, with generous donations helping to keep them for posterity.

More information about the new project can be found here.