Last month, we announced the volunteers appointed to serve in Chattanooga’s first Parks and Outdoors Advisory Committee. Now, we’re shedding some light on their first meeting + what you can expect going forward.
Need-to-knows
- Chair | Mayoral appointed Linda Moss Mines
- Vice Chair | District 8 resident Shelby Meeks
- Meetings | First Thursdays, 8:30 a.m. — location TBD (all meetings are open to the public)
To get the committee acquainted with what they will do, the city’s Director of Design + Neighborhood Connectivity Blythe Bailey walked them through updates on the revitalization of our skate park, located at 1801 Reggie White Blvd.
General skate park updates
- Funding | $1 million secured + awaiting approval for an additional $2 million (vote to take place in the summer).
- Time frame | Projected six months for construction.
- Park factors | Poured-in-place concrete design, not a single-use park (think: dog park, recreational class space, etc.), area for food trucks + access from 20th Street.
- Questions from committee | Shade aspects, signage to make park less hidden, where skaters can go during construction + possible performance opportunities.
Don’t flip your board just yet — we’ll be back with more updates (and answers to the committee’s questions) in a future newsletter.
What they’re saying
- “As the city becomes more dense [...] I think it’s really important that we make sure that there’s connection points to the existing parks and new parks that are created.” — Adam Kinsey of District 7.
- “The idea is that anything we bring to [the] council of substantive nature comes through y’all first [...] y’all are a break, y’all are an input, y’all are a clause to make sure we have our stuff together.” — Administrator for Chattanooga’s Department of Parks and Outdoors Scott Martin
- “We all have a vision of a better Chattanooga that is a city in a park and park that is a city.” — Linda Moss Mines
