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Alpharetta outlines major Wills Park renovations, warns 50 trees will be removed
Summary
City parks director presented plans to replace the Wacky World playground, expand restrooms and parking, and renovate the equestrian center; staff said 50 trees in the playground footprint will be removed with a commitment to replant at least as many and attempt to relocate memorial trees.
Reginald Rogers, Alpharetta’s parks director, told the City Council on Sept. 22 that the Wills Park playground known as "Wacky World" will be replaced with a larger, more accessible play area and that construction is slated to be substantial through spring 2026.
Rogers said the new playground will have poured-in-place rubber surfacing to improve accessibility, improved sight-line fencing, additional shade structures, and a larger restroom building that will expand restroom capacity by about 150 percent. He also described a proposed 72-space parking lot on what is now grass to ease peak-period parking congestion.
A major point in Rogers’s presentation was tree removal. Rogers said 50 trees within the playground and adjacent construction footprint will be removed, including three specimen trees; staff plan to replace each removed tree and said every tree removal was evaluated by the city arborist and an outside consultant. "We're gonna plant more than 50 trees back," Rogers said, and staff pointed out that trees marked with a red X on site maps identify those scheduled for removal.
Rogers also updated council on the Wills Park Equestrian Center: two competition arenas are already renovated, and plans call to enlarge two additional arenas, add a new entrance off Wills Road, upgrade RV hookups, and relocate two disc-golf holes for stormwater improvements. He said a row of memorial trees affected by expansion would be handled in two phases: attempt to spade-and-move smaller specimens and, if that fails, replant the same species elsewhere in the park.
Schedule details in the presentation set Sept. 28 as the last day to use the existing playground before construction fences go up; Rogers said the project contractor is mobilizing and the overall work has an anticipated completion date around May 1, 2026.
Council members asked about communication to the public during construction, shade-canopy materials and maintenance lifespans (Rogers said the canopies will be heavy-duty canvas expected to last eight to ten years), and whether additional parking could be squeezed into existing lots (staff said constraints make that impractical). Several council members praised staff coordination with public works on the project.
Next steps: staff will proceed with the construction schedule and public communications plans; detailed construction phasing and tree-relocation plans will be carried out before work begins.
