Residents of Cabbagetown are pushing to preserve the neighborhood's musical legacy.

They're preparing to break ground on a new amphitheater named after a beloved singer.

The legacy of Joyce Brookshire

Joyce Brookshire was born and raised in Cabbagetown and was often called the voice of the neighborhood.

Her folk ballads, including "North Georgia Mountains, sparkled with wit while sharing stories of the area's history. They dealt with issues such as justice, human rights, and equality.

Brookshire died in 2017 at 76 years old.

"She became one of our family members because she hung out with us," said Sarah Knight, an 88-year-old Cabbagetown resident and close family friend of Brookshire.

Karen Tanner, Knight's daughter, recalled introducing young neighbors to Brookshire's melodies.

"I would take her CD and play it in my car for the kids in the neighborhood and play her songs over and over and over, because I knew that neighborhood was changing and I didn't want them to miss out on their roots," Tanner said.

Honoring a Cabbagetown local's impact

In an effort to preserve the folk singer's legacy, local nonprofit Cabbagetown Initiative is leading a push to build a new amphitheater in the community's park. 

"We need to make it better, worthy of her name," said John Dirga, the executive director of the nonprofit. "We started doing concerts to raise money, because music helps music."

They've now raised more than $200,000, some of which came from a grant from the greenspace advocacy nonprofit Park Pride. 

The park currently has an outdoor terrace which is used as a performance space, but leaders say it remains unfinished, is missing a stage, and is prone to flooding.

For Tanner and Knight, the design's wheelchair accessibility will allow Knight to enjoy the music of an old friend once more.

"It'd be wonderful," Knight said.

The amphitheater's next steps

Developers are now working on planning the next stage of the product.

The neighborhood is changing. Once a haven for artists drawn to cheap housing, Cabbagetown has seen home prices and rents soar in recent decades, pushing many creatives out. That included Brookshire, a melancholy note for the songbird who found her voice there.

"There's probably a couple songs about that, too," Tanner said. "Yeah, she was real heartbroken about that."

Dirga says they hope to break ground before the end of the year and cut the ribbon around Brookshire's birthday in April to ensure the music of the neighborhood never fades.