Recycled Sculpture

The first thing I noticed was the crushed pavement, but cyclists usually notice crushed pavement. It becomes hard to hold onto the handlebars. Someone had driven something really heavy onto the Freedom Park trail near Euclid and North Avenues. The trail is made of concrete, but it is bicycle-strength pavement instead of 18-wheeler-strength pavement.

The next thing I noticed was a set of large granite boulders sitting within a loop formed by the trail (so that was the heavy thing). It looked like the little park was gaining an adornment. At the time, I thought it was curious that someone would be adding a rock sculpture, but mostly I wondered when the trail would be repaired.

It didn't take long to repair, fortunately. I guess they had expected to be crushing pavement. It was a few months however, before these showed up.



I had a vague impression that I had seen these before, but I had trouble placing them until Jeff, a fellow bicycle commuter, and I were riding past them last week. Jeff had read the plaque that mentioned the sculpture had been commissioned during the 1996 Olympics held in Atlanta. I may not have stopped to take pictures if another cyclist Barry had not asked me what all of this might mean.



Cut into the granite steps are the words Walton Spring Park. This was sitting in Freedom Park and was close to Goldsboro and Candler Parks. I had not heard of Walton Spring Park. The story got a little more interesting.

Through the wonder that is the internet, I found that Walton Spring was Atlanta's first public water source. For the 1996 Olympics, this sculpture "New Endings" had been located near that first public water source, but had been moved to the Freedom Park when a new sculpture was placed in Walton Spring Park. Curtis Patterson's website presents images of the Andrew Young Tribute and Plaza now occupying Walton Spring Park.

Commute Summary

Granite Boulders: 3
Crushed Pavement: None
Round Trip Distance: 18.6
Number of Cyclists seen: 3 inbound and 5 outbound
In-bound Route: Goofin' 9.6
Out-bound Route: Emory via Clifton
Weather: Drizzly on the way in and barely warm enough for shorts (upper 40s), drier on the way home.