Kirkwood’s recent changes have arrived in stages: a restored park entrance, a permanent home for women’s sports fans, and new pedestrian bridges at East Lake MARTA station.
Each project has its own timeline. At Bessie Branham Park, the entrance opened while other improvements were still ahead. Jolene Jolene grew from pop-up watch parties into a neighborhood business. At East Lake, bridge replacements and a new elevator opened at different points across 2024, 2025, and 2026.
Together, they show how neighborhood improvements take shape—and why an announcement date rarely tells the whole story.
Bessie Branham Park: An Entrance Opens, a Larger Renewal Follows
The restored southwest entrance to Bessie Branham Park debuted during the May 2025 Kirkwood Spring Fling and Tour of Homes. New signage, landscaping, and a walkway incorporating personalized bricks marked a visible milestone in a renewal effort that had been years in the making.
The entrance was one part of a larger project. Plans developed with landscape architecture firm HGOR also called for improved walkways, playground upgrades, drainage work, and restoration of the park’s distinctive Urban Treehouse.
The treehouse, originally built in 1994, features a deck shaped like the United States and a separate Alaska section. Renovation plans called for replacing its horizontal surfaces with durable composite materials. Playground plans included new equipment and replacement of rubber ground surfaces with engineered wood fiber.
Neighborhood fundraising helped advance the work. In July 2024, Decaturish reported that the Kirkwood Neighbors Organization had raised $57,500 through engraved-brick sales. Councilmember Liliana Bakhtiari had also committed $120,000 from her office toward the deck replacement. Those figures represented funding raised or committed, rather than a final accounting of the renovation’s cost. WABE/Decaturish
The construction schedule evolved. May 2025 reporting described a hoped-for December finish for the playground and treehouse work. By September, however, reporting placed the start of major construction that month, with approximately four months of work anticipated and the playground expected to open in early 2026.
Those reports document the plans and progress, but do not establish a final completion date for the full renovation. Urbanize Atlanta’s September update
Jolene Jolene Finds a Permanent Home
For Atlanta’s women’s sports fans, Jolene Jolene’s move to Kirkwood brought an established watch-party community into a permanent space.
Founder Chelsea Fishman developed the concept through pop-ups before securing the former Argonaut restaurant at 1963 Hosea L. Williams Drive. The move was reported in April 2026.
According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Fishman had faced the challenges familiar to many first-time business owners: landlords reluctant to take a chance and rents beyond her reach. Conversations with Argonaut owners David Cunningham and Brandon Nelson helped create an opportunity to bring the concept to Kirkwood. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jolene Jolene now lists the Kirkwood address, a food menu, and regular operating hours on its website. Its focus remains the same: giving women’s sports and their fans a dedicated gathering place. Jolene Jolene
East Lake MARTA: Two Bridges and a New Elevator
East Lake station’s rehabilitation brought improvements to both sides of a station that has served riders since 1979.
The new north pedestrian bridge opened in December 2024. The north elevator followed in April 2025, making that side of the station accessible for the first time.
The south bridge replacement took longer to get underway. MARTA postponed a closure originally scheduled for March 24, 2025. The south entrance and pedestrian bridge ultimately closed on March 9, 2026, with work initially expected to take approximately two months. MARTA’s postponement notice, closure announcement
On June 9, 2026, MARTA announced that the new south bridge was open and both station entrances were available. The agency identified that opening as completion of the current rehabilitation phase, while noting that some parking areas and finishing work remained. MARTA’s opening announcement
For Kirkwood and neighboring communities, the result was restored access from both sides of the station and an accessible north entrance.
These changes offer different measures of progress: an entrance restored, a business established, and a transit connection improved. Following each project beyond its first announcement gives residents a clearer picture of what is available—and what still needs a confirmed update.
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