Pocket park opens in historic Glenwood neighborhood
City, County and business partnerships made project possible
The sun broke through the clouds Friday morning as leaders with the city of Chattanooga, Hamilton County and the Glenwood Neighborhood Association celebrated the opening of a new pocket park on East Third Street.
The project was made possible because of partnerships created between the three groups and several local businesses after representatives with Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprises (CNE) initiated the idea.
"CNE is all about investments in neighborhoods and revitalizing neighborhoods, whatever that means. This was a piece of property that was wasting away and wasn't adding any value to the neighborhood," Nick Wilkinson, CNE's director of development, said.
Decrepit buildings were demolished about five years ago, according to Wilkinson, who estimated the new park's in-kind donations of labor and materials to be around $100,000.
"And now it actually is something that adds investment. People want to buy houses next to parks," he said.
A collaboration between community leaders and local groups made the project's success possible, according to Wilkinson. The property was donated by the city and county. Playcore, a local manufacturer of playground and recreation systems, designed and supplied the playground equipment for the park. And volunteers helped with the construction, which took place this past fall.
Ric Morris, Glenwood Neighborhood Association president, said the new park is fantastic and that the future still holds great potential for improving and expanding.
Planting trees, shrubs and raised beds as well as installing fences and benches are a few of the projects on the list for spring, according to Morris. In the future Morris said he would like to see a covered pavilion also added to the park.
"In the spring we hope to get some of this underway and utilize some of the partners that CNE has already started to bring into the picture to keep this project going," Morris said.
Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield and County Mayor Jim Coppinger were both at the ribbon-cutting celebration and commended the ongoing hard work of the neighborhood's residents and leaders. The City Council and County Commission worked together on an agreement to donate the property to the neighborhood for the development of the park.
"The health of a city is in its neighborhoods. And the health of the neighborhoods is in its families. In order to be family friendly, you have to have places for those young people to play. Glenwood has kept itself strong and healthy. Stepping up and making this project happen is another example of the fact that there is life in Glenwood and life in the future of Glenwood," Littlefield said.
