West Atlanta Watershed Alliance Outdoor Activity Center

West Atlanta Watershed Alliance Outdoor Activity Center
Type Environmental education center, Nature preserve
Location 1442 Richland Road
Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Area 26 acres (11 ha)
Designer John Ripley Forbes
Operated by West Atlanta Watershed Alliance
Website wawaonline.blogspot.com/p/outdoor-activity-center.html

The West Atlanta Watershed Alliance Outdoor Activity Center (OAC) is a public environmental education , nature preserve, and outdoor activity facility in Atlanta, Georgia. The center is 26 acres (0.11 km2) and focuses on educational outreach and outdoor activities in an urban setting.[1][2]

As of 2014, the OAC contains approximately two miles of trails, a ropes course, a nature-themed playground, a tree house classroom, a 650-gallon freshwater aquarium, and a multi-purpose building.[1]

When the center opened in 1975 it was Atlanta's "first and only environmental education and outdoor recreation facility." Atlanta Public Schools leased 8 acres (0.032 km2) to the OAC for $1 a year, and the Natural Science for Youth Foundation helped fund, organize and staff the original center. The Atlanta Bureau of Parks and Recreation later purchased the property from the school system and assumed maintenance of the parkland.[2]

In 2007, the National Wildlife Federation referred to the OAC as "an ecological jewel."[3]

The center is located beside the former practice lot for the Atlanta Black Crackers.[1]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 West Atlanta Watershed Alliance, Inc. (WAWA)
  2. 1 2 Ferguson, Gary (2012). "Chapter 7". Nature's Keeper: John Ripley Forbes and the Children's Nature Movement. Helena, Montana: Sweetgrass Books, A Division of Farcountry Press. pp. 154–158. ISBN 978-1-59152-086-3.
  3. ↑ Elder, Matthew (December 3, 2007). "Local Urban Teens team up to clean up the Atlanta Outdoor Activity Center". http://online.nwf.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=7107. National Wildlife Federation. External link in |website= (help);

Coordinates: 33°43′45″N 84°26′02″W / 33.7292°N 84.4340°W / 33.7292; -84.4340


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