Then there's Woodruff Park, a 10-minute stroll away but worlds apart. Woodruff was renovated just a few years ago, but nobody would describe it as a tourist draw. Perhaps the brightest spot is the chess players doing battle along the park walls, surrounded by crowds of hangers-on. The rest of the scene is not so compelling. Pigeons peck listlessly at discarded hamburger crusts.
Trash blows across the park.
The current condition of Woodruff, which has once again become living quarters for homeless men and women, represents a startling failure, not only of efforts to clean up the park but also of the city's responsibility to those without decent housing. Surely, this city can do better than leave its least fortunate to live outdoors. But the police no longer attempt to make even those arrests. Now, the ACLU has sued the Georgia World Congress Center Authority, which controls Centennial Olympic Park. It alleges the authority's regulations unconstitutionally hinder free speech and assembly in the park.