Vine City is on the rise, thanks to neighborhood gumption and elbow grease on the part of residents across Atlanta.

The neighborhood, just across Northside Drive from the rising Mercedes-Benz Stadium, has for years been woefully down on its luck.

As an example of recent successes, a new and improved Vine City Park will be unveiled tomorrow. Thanks to the combined efforts of Park Pride, Invest Atlanta, the Arthur Blank Foundation, and neighborhood volunteers, the latest phase takes the transformation of the park a major step forward.

And it proves that blight can be creatively eradicated.

During this phase, the city acquired surrounding land to double the size of the former park that included vacant, boarded-up apartments. New facilities include an expanded playground, exercise equipment, and green infrastructure features to help mitigate problematic stormwater flooding in the neighborhood. A rain garden, dry creek bed, and micro-forest serve both to capture water and educate, with signage explaining how these features help the neighborhood.

For those interested in attending, Mayor Kasim Reed and several partner organizations will gather in Vine City Park at 10:30 a.m. Thursday to celebrate the improvements made to the park.