These days hundreds of cranes and construction equipment dot the landscape of metro Atlanta. In downtown Atlanta there is a project that will quite literally stitch together what were once
Senator Raphael Warnock (D-Ga) believes The Stitch is more than just another real estate development taking place in downtown Atlanta. Much more in fact.
“I am very excited about The Stitch. This is about correcting a historic wrong, but also literally paving the way of economic prosperity well into the future for these communities,” he said.
The Stitch will attempt to erase history in a way, reconnecting downtown and Midtown Atlanta in a way that hasn’t happened since before the national highway expansions of the 1950’s and 1960’s. A lot of those neighborhoods that I-75, I-85, and I-20 destroyed were thriving Black communities. The list is long and includes the Sweet Auburn District and Summerhill, two neighborhoods that no longer demographically lean Black, but have seen urban renewal in the past few years.
“This is a project that centers historically marginalized communities,” Warnock said of The Stitch project. “It literally is happening in the neighborhoods that were divided. This will create jobs in those communities and beyond. This kind of infrastructure is central to building economic prosperity.” Vice President Harris said that The Stitch will create thousands of jobs during her time on stage Monday.
Warnock and Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff (D-Ga) spearheaded a nearly $160 million federal grant for the project. Some $50 million of that grant will go towards work on the Atlanta Beltline to Flint River Trail project as well. As a Baptist preacher he is all about connecting people, Warnock said.
“This is about correcting the ways people were historically pushed out,” he said. “This is about bringing those communities back together.”
Warnock pointed out that provisions were written into legislation that will prevent the kind of blackballing and exclusivity that often kept Black businesses from helping create projects in Atlanta and elsewhere like The Stitch. “We want to make sure that everyone gets to participate in this,” he said. “I’m proud of the fact that I secured $158 million to get us closer to getting this done. This is a transformative project..
Warnock added that infrastructure is about more than just building brick-and-mortar projects that beautify a cityscape. “It’s about the spirit of a city, the spirit of the people,” Warnock said. The physical infrastructure is connected to economic vitality and prosperity. I’m very excited that we are leading this project.”
The project will create thousands of jobs, acres of greenspace and a more inclusive downtown upon completion, according to Warnock, who remains the pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Auburn Avenue.
“This is a win-win,” he said. “We talk often about Sweet Auburn, but how much sweeter Auburn could have been had it not been a part of these kinds of disruptive projects that happened in the name of urban renewal? This is literally a transformation of those communities and all of us win as a result.”