Self-Guided Tour
Map created by Ray Pague
Printable Tour Guide
Beginning at 270 Arizona Avenue NE, cul-de-sac entrance
(approximately 35 minutes – follow numbers on map)
1. LCCLT gate, designed and built by Bernard Spenle and Julia Hill, December 2015. Address mosaic (270 Arizona Avenue NE) by founding trustee Miriam Herbers, 2016. Mailbox for donations as well as U.S. mail. Peace Garden, four beds divided by paths in shape of peace sign. Used for Human Peace Sign Vigil on July 4, 2007.
2. Right – Bulletin board, available to the community for posting info and announcements.
Left – Wood chip pile, donated by tree-removal companies. Available to the community in small quantities for free, or by the pickup-load for a nominal donation. Please email info@LCCLT.org to submit request.
3. Path downhill to left leads to new Pollinator Bed (2016), Dekalb Gardens, wooden compost bins from Terra Nova Compost Workshop (2016), an ongoing project. Nelms Avenue Farm and Bee Hives at the end of the path on the right. Ongoing project: non-toxic clearing of weeds on Dekalb Avenue embankment (left of path), planting of native grasses/flowers/trees with Trees Atlanta and a landscape architect.
4. Main Path, right – Well housing, small wooden structure behind shrubbery. Well drilled 500 feet down into granite substrate (1990, grant from Amoco Foundation thru SouthFace Institute). Left – Path Gardens, revamped in 2015 with anonymous $500 materials donation. Solar Panel powers pump 100 feet down in well, pumping water to 1600-gallon holding tank to irrigate gardens (see #9). Rain Water catchment tower at end of gardens built by Bernard Spenle (May 2013, $1000 City of Atlanta “Love Your Block” Grant).
5. Right – Restroom, completed 2001. Painting inside by Ray Pague, 2016. Bike rack (grant from the city to NPU-N, one of several placed around the neighborhood by Amy Stout).
6. Left – Playground and big gazebo (1993, donation from neighbor Kathy Kennedy). Home to potlucks, July 4th cook-offs, pumpkin carving, Easter egg hunts. Fresh sand added several times a year. Rain barrels along fence catch water from roof of stage (#7) to irrigate Dekalb Avenue gardens below (#3).
7. Left – Stage (2002), amphitheater and fire pit. Named “The Mark” after founding trustee Mark Sanger after his passing in 2003. Home to performances, movies, drum circles (1st Saturday of each month since 1990), music festival fundraisers, weddings. (October 2013, $1000 grant from Councilperson Natalyn Archibong’s office thru Lake Claire Neighbors for side wall of amphitheater, stone benches, picnic tables, plantings. Project in progress: replacing fence behind stage (funds raised by neighborhood band Webster, performing on Land Trust stage, May 2016).
8. Right – Olympic Shed, built for 1996 Olympics campground as two-hole outhouse, revamped into storage shed for festival supplies.
9. Left – Sunset Overlook (2008) at highest point on the land with view of downtown skyline, deck built to cover 1600 gallon water tank (2008, Atlanta Girls’ School grant) for gravity-fed irrigation for all gardens. Upper circle: festival vendors, fire performers for drum circles.
10. Right – Japanese Meditation Garden (May 2013, also funded by City of Atlanta “Love Your Block” grant); designed by Linda Pace & Brynan Hadaway.
11. Left – Gorilla Grill (April 2007); food and drink service area for events. In winter, heated by a small woodstove, also used for neighborhood Friday night jams, classes and meetings. Creative woodworking here, as elsewhere around the Trust, done by founding trustee Charlie Pope. Stained glass by Trevor Degler, interior painting by Sunshine Allard and Buddy McCue.
12. At rear fence – Little Gazebo, included in purchase of Greenfield from neighbor & founding trustee Richard Powers and his wife Joanne Young-Powers. This was dedicated to them after Richard’s passing in 2023.
13. Right (down sloping switchback path) – Sauna (currently not open to the public), Showers; built in 1996 for Olympic campers using 55-gallon black-painted solar-heated overhead drums. Little Fishpond began as a SouthFace demo (a non-profit energy efficiency organization), later rebuilt with cement (March 2012, $500 grant through Community Foundation/Gay & Lesbian ATL Fund, in honor of Phillip Rush, used for fencing this area). Beyond are more individual gardens.
14. Left – The Meadow, (purchased in 2008 from neighbors), also called Peace Pond Overlook.
15. Right – Previous home of Big Lou the Emu (resident from 1993-2022).
16. Thru gate and across bridge, left – Peace Pond, purchased in 2009 from neighbors and founding trustees Norman Glassman and Marilyn Rosenberg, using $8000 Community Foundation/Neighborhood Fund’s “Common Good” grant, which also included free consultation with a 501(c)3 specialist. Barn-shaped building beyond the pond is “Amata” – beloved in Latin (not part of LT). Built by a mason in 1944; since 1976 an intentional community with common space.
17. Right – Pond Gardens, another individual gardens area.