Atlanta teacher warned students away from locked 26-acre forest; $3 million may open it

Mount Gilead Lake in the Falling Water Park An Atlanta teacher spent years warning students to stay away from a locked forest outside their school. Now, after years of community organising, the 26-acre Falling Water Park in southwest Atlanta is set to receive $3 million to help turn the inaccessible greenspace into a public park.Renette Scott, a teacher at Therrell High School, had spent years telling her students not to venture into the woods near the school. The area was closed to the public, and Scott did not know at the time that the city of Atlanta owned the land.The 26-acre forest, known as Falling Water Park, was bought by the city in 2004. It was classified as a “park-in-holding”, which meant the greenspace was protected but remained closed to the public.Scott later joined hands with community members, the nonprofit Park Pride and city officials to push for the development of the land. The effort eventually grew into a community group called Friends of Falling Water Park, which worked for years to bring the forest back into public use. “This is a jewel that we don't know exists,” Scott said.Years of community organisingThe campaign involved meetings, surveys and other activ...