DeKalb County announced it is building a new park project on land it received in the controversial real estate deal with businessman Ryan Millsap in 2021.
The property at the heart of this project has long been called Michelle Obama Park, although a press release from DeKalb County refers to the project as a “reimagined” Intrenchment Creek Park, with visuals including forest paths that may include Intrenchment Creek Park land.
According to a press release from the county, construction is set to start this month and finish by Labor Day.
“Since 2019, the Intrenchment Creek community has been promised a state of the art park that respects the sacred beauty and nature of the area while meeting the needs of the growing community,” said DeKalb CEO Lorraine Cochran-Johnson in a video announcement about the park.
Renderings in the video show a playground, basketball court, splashpad, multi-use paths in the forest and an radio-controlled plane airfield, among other amenities.
The county was supposed to receive $1.5 million from Millsap for Michelle Obama Park, but due to a pending lawsuit from neighbors claiming the land swap is illegal and should be voided, Millsap hasn’t released the funds to DeKalb.
In the meantime, Millsap has looked into selling the 40 acres he received from DeKalb County in Intrenchment Creek Park to possibly become a data center.
DeKalb Super District 6 commissioner Ted Terry said the county’s park announcement doesn’t resolve the potential destruction of green space and fracturing of Intrenchment Creek Park.
“And now they’re sort of putting on this shinier image of another park nearby that isn’t related to getting the 40 acres back, which is really what the community has asked for. We can still move forward with the Michelle Obama park improvements. That’s still a good idea,” Terry said. “But the goal of my resolution was to say the policy statement to get the 40 acres back. But unfortunately, the board of commissioners voted that down.”
He also said DeKalb County did not consult him, or other commissioners of Intrenchment Creek Park’s district, about the plan before the press release was published.
Millsap and DeKalb County did not respond to requests to comment for this story.
DeKalb County announced an in-person press conference on May 6 for this announcement, but canceled the meeting that same day.
The county will host a virtual town hall for the project at 6 p.m. on May 13.
