Rosa Parks Square renovations underway after years of planning

The park upgrades are expected to be completed by next April.

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Macon-Bibb County leaders officially broke ground on the Rosa Parks Square renovation on Thursday after more than a decade of planning.

Activists and elected officials have shared ideas for the future of Rosa Parks Square in downtown Macon. A new luminary wall honoring county contributors is part of the $2.5 million renovation plan. Macon-Bibb County Urban Development Authority Executive Director Alex Morrison says the renovation will level the ground at the park and make it more suitable for visitors.

“So the main thing is you’re going to have a large flat gathering space here that’s going to have a central oval with lots of benches and shade,” Morrison said. “And then a stage structure that will both front the park and towards city hall communicating the need for spaces for protests.”

The renovation plan was approved by Macon-Bibb Commissioners in a unanimous vote last month. The original $900,000 going toward the project came from the sale of the building that is now Hotel Forty Five. The park upgrades are expected to be completed by next April.

Park goers have long gathered at Rosa Parks Square to protest. Andrea Cooke, Board Chair of the Friends of the Rosa Parks Square Board, believes there is no better way to honor the legacies of parks and other Civil Rights icons than the new stage.

“I think it’s important that we have a place where people can gather safely and protest any given topic,” Cooke said.

Cooke says she was honored to be chairman when the board’s years of advocacy and planning for park renovation finally paid off. She wants Macon residents to show their appreciation by gathering at Rosa Parks Square every weekend. She hopes visitors, particularly children, learn from trips to the park.

“I just hope that it’s an opportunity for people to talk more about what sacrifices people made in order to make sure that Macon-Bibb County gets to be the shining star that it is now,” Cooke said.