ARTICLE TOOLS

E-mail story

Comments

Printer friendly version

iPod friendly version

Share This

Text Size: A A A A

Hamilton County: State, federal grants jump-start county’s largest new park

By: Pam Sohn
(Contact)

Included in this article

Ron Priddy

In the fall of 2009, Hamilton County officials hope to open a 2,800-acre Enterprise South Nature Park with a completed visitors center, about 10 rangers, picnic spots and miles of new walking and biking trails.

“It will be the biggest Hamilton County park there is,” said Ron Priddy, director of the Hamilton County Parks and Recreation Department. “Eventually, it will even have horse trails.”

The new park will be more than twice the size of the 1,200-acre Harrison Bay State Park, while the county-owned Chester Frost Park is about 250 acres.

County officials learned Monday that they won a $250,000 state grant and a $76,000 federal grant for the park, said Tisha Calabrese-Benton, spokeswoman for the Tennessee Department of Environment and Recreation.

At the same time, Chattanooga and Lookout Mountain officials also learned of state grants for their own recreation endeavors.

Chattanooga will receive $225,000 for the development of a water “spraypark” at Warner Park. Larry Zehnder, administrator of Chattanooga Parks and Recreation, said a spraypark is a recreational water feature.

“It is one that doesn’t have any standing water, so they’re often called a sprayground. It gives the benefit of cooling off in summer,” Mr. Zehnder said.

Lookout Mountain will receive $150,000 for playground equipment and installation, surfacing and site preparation for the Mountain Maze Playground, according to state documents.

Though Chattanooga’s spraypark is not designed, Mr. Zehnder said officials are expecting it to be a 40-by-100-foot addition to the Warner Park pool, possibly using the same filtration and recycling system as the pool.

Noting that 200 people a day visit Coolidge Park in the summer when its fountain is running, Mr. Zehnder said he hopes to have the new park completed by pool season next summer. He also said more sprayparks may be planned around the city.

“Water has always been an attraction to people,” he said. “We feel having another one or two locations in the city would be good.”

Altogether, the state awarded more than $11.9 million in parks and recreation grants across Tennessee. The money includes nearly $9.7 million in local Parks and Recreation Fund grants, as well as more than $2.2 million in federal Recreational Trails Program grants.

The state grants must be matched at a 50-50 ratio, and the federal trails money requires a 20 percent match, Ms. Calabrese-Benton said.

Mr. Priddy said both Hamilton County and Chattanooga — the dual owners of Enterprise South — will provide $125,000 to match the state’s assistance.

Lookout Mountain officials could not be reached for comment.

Comments