The Peach Drop was held in Woodruff Park last year after the city sold Underground to an out-of-state developer.
Channel 2’s Aaron Diamant spoke with one agency leader about strategy and security.
“We’ve got plans established to handle both situations,” said MARTA’s rail chief, Dave Springstead.
Springstead said the agency could adjust quickly when it recently learned about the relocation.
“As you know, things are dynamic in the city of Atlanta, and we always have our ear to city hall, and we basically prepared for either Woodruff Park or downtown Five Points,” Springstead said.
Past Peach Drops have seen up to 100,000 people show up to celebrate, with many riding MARTA to and from. Springstead confirmed MARTA will beef up service and staffing and will deploy more police.
“There’s a lot of folks that’ll be very visible to the patrons, but there’s also a lot of folks that will be behind the scenes,” Springstead said.
A Channel 2 crew spotted a team from the Atlanta Police Department already walking the site to work out details.
“I think it’s great. I’m native to Atlanta, so that’s what I’m used to, so I think it’s a good idea,” said Shayla Teamer, who works downtown.
Some hope the move back can help Underground bounce back.
“It doesn’t really appear to be a place that I would want to be there with my family or young kids, but I think that an event like that would definitely allow people to come out and maybe spark something,” community member Melissa Brown said.
The team at MARTA said the Peach Drop will be another important dry run for them to work out any kinks ahead of Super Bowl LIII in February.
In the meantime, we’ll be working to get details about road closures and the lineup for the Peach Drop.
via WSBTV
