Suwanee city officials have broken ground on the expansion of Town Center Park on Main and the DeLay Nature Park.
According to the city, Town Center Park on Main will be an urban-style greenspace with a “unique character, personality and purpose,” similar to but separate from the city’s existing Town Center Park. The new greenspace will be anchored by the Suwanee library branch at 361 Main St., and approximately 15 of the wooded 25 acres along the existing Brushy Creek Greenway will remain relatively undisturbed as the DeLay Nature Park. The existing Town Center Park and Town Center on Main will function as a unified space, linked by Station Park next to the police station and the pedestrian tunnel under the railroad.
Suwanee Mayor Jimmy Burnette, members of the Suwanee City Council, representatives from construction company Reeves Young, architectural planning firm Clark Patterson Lee and Gwinnett County Public Library, as well as community members, attended the ceremonial groundbreaking held Monday, Sept. 26.
“The success of Town Center Park has exceeded all expectations,” Burnette said. “The park draws over 300,000 visitors annually to events, as well as regularly serving our 20,000 citizens. The new park will help ease the demand on the existing park and surrounding community.”
The greenspace plan features a mixture of urban and rural environments, including:
- An approximately 900-foot, elevated signature bridge for pedestrian and bicycle use, spanning the entire park and crossing a one-acre water feature
- An open terrace plaza at the peak of the park’s elevation with large-scale pavilions,
- Sandpit volleyball courts
- A public art piece
The greenspace project will also include the realignment of Main Street. According to the city, Main Street will shift around the park and exit onto Suwanee Dam Road at the traffic signal and the new Gwinnett County Fire Station No. 13, which is under construction at 105 Main St. This shift will close the existing median break on Suwanee Dam Road at the existing Main Street.