Images: Equip Studio
Greenspace Project, Athens Church, Athens, Ga.
Athens Church has always focused primarily on serving families within the community of Athens, Ga. With its facilities, the church began implementing this strategy over a decade ago when with the purchase of an abandoned Walmart outside the city's "loop."
Eventually, the church would come to own the entire shopping center of more than 400,000 square feet, and they would work with various partners, including South Carolina-based Equip Studio design firm.
Realizing that the church had more space than it needed for brick-and-mortar facilities, staff began to consider if anything different could be done to serve the Athens community. What they found: the community lacked an open green space to gather--and the church had additional footprint they didn't use. So the Green Space Project was born.
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Wide open
To open up space for the project, designers tore down nearly 80,000 square feet of building to create the green space where community could gather throughout the week. The space includes over 50,000 square feet of lawn, a covered 2,400-square-foot band shell, restrooms, a paved terrace, and an adjacent built-out environment for additional use. Church staff and designers report that Athens Church is "For Athens," and is reflected in the terrace sign that reads "Athens, I love you."
Athens Church's outdoor band shell is equipped to support portable AV systems and rigging.
AV in the outdoors
The Green Space's sizable band shell is equipped to support portable AV systems and rigging. There is also an area behind the platform that will allow for production crews to set up for concerts that will be performed. There is also availability for distributed audio within the park, staff reports.
More than 50,000 square feet of lawn awaits attendees.
