In Atlanta's Old Fourth Ward neighborhood, flooding from nearby Clear Creek has always been an issue. In the late 1980s and early 90s, the city drafted a $40 million plan to dig a massive underground tunnel in order to channel excess stormwater to a processing plant, where it would be cleaned and discharged into the Chattachoochee River. However, engineer-economist and environmentalist Bill Eisenhauer had a better idea. Eisenhauer believed that a solution utilizing
green infrastructure could provide more benefits to both the ecosystem, and local residents. Eisenhauer created a plan for Historic Fourth Ward Park, a recreational area surrounding a 5-acre stormwater retention pond. The new plan, costing only $23 million, was noticed by local architect Markham Smith. Smith helped Eisenhauer organize stakeholders, including the Trust for Public Land and the Atlanta Beltline, who purchased the declining industrial property next to the former Sears warehouse, where Eisenahuer had hoped new park would be housed. The stormwater drainage pond, which is set deeply into a bowl below the water table, is capable of holding up to 4 million gallons of water and slowly transporting them to the city's sewage treatment plant, enabling the park to handle a
500 year flood. ==Pond and amphitheater==