The Trust for Public Land in Tennessee THERE IS SO MUCH TO BE PROUD OF
in 2021
AND MORE TO LOOK FORWARD TO IN THE YEAR AHEAD
KEEPING THE VISION FOR PARKS AND TRAILS IN TENNESSEE Thanks to your longstanding support, this year we are celebrating the completion of three park and trail investments that will benefit Tennesseans for generations to come. We successfully connected Stringer’s Ridge to White Oak Park, completing a goal envisioned over ten years ago when we began our efforts to create an open space corridor to connect Red Bank and Chattanooga. The completion of the South Chickamauga Creek Greenway in 2021 culminates a 27-year effort to realize a pathway from the Tennessee River to Camp Jordan
Park. And the construction of the Southside Community Playground marks a new chapter for the Trust for Public Land as the first park investment in what will become a linear network of parks and trails spanning the neighborhoods of South Chattanooga. These land-for-people victories are a testament to your steadfast generosity and commitment to ensuring everyone in Tennessee has safe access to the outdoors. We hope that you enjoy learning more about the impact of your support in the stories that follow, and we look forward to your experiences in these inspiring spaces in the seasons ahead. Franklin Farrow Chair, Tennessee Advisory Board
BROOKE BR AGGER PHOTOGR APHY
Crabtree Farms Chattanooga, TN
CENTERING POWERFUL COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS IN PARK AND TRAIL CREATION BROOKE BR AGGER
STRINGER’S RIDGE TO WHITE OAK PARK Thirteen years ago, The Trust for Public Land partnered with residents of Red Bank and Chattanooga to envision a trail connecting the cities. We began this effort by protecting the 100-acre Stringer’s Ridge Park. The park is one of the region’s most accessible urban forests for hikers, trail runners, and mountain bikers. Thanks to your support, hundreds of volunteers and partners provided input to transform a one-mile trail connecting Stringer’s Ridge to White Oak Park. We are committed to supporting our partners who make this trail possible.
SOUTHEAST CONSERVATION CORPS Our nonprofit partners at the Southeast Conservation Corps hand-constructed the first trail segment needed to link White Oak Park to Stringer’s Ridge over a period of eight weeks. The trail crew employs local young people to manage natural landscapes while cultivating compassion, responsibility, and grit through community service, hard work, and environmental stewardship.
WHITE OAK BICYCLE CO-OP White Oak Bicycle Co-Op is a new neighborhood group dedicated to providing refurbished bicycles and bicycle repair services to the community, focusing on children, low-income households, and individuals experiencing homelessness. They are helping us activate the trail. The Trust for Public Land recently awarded a $10,000 partner grant to the Co-Op from our national Equitable Communities Fund (ECF). We launched the ECF to energize park creation
efforts in disadvantaged and historically marginalized communities across the country.
FAMILY VOICES OF TENNESSEE SOUTHEAST PARTNERSHIP Family Voices of Tennessee, a program of the Tennessee Disability Coalition, provides emotional and educational support to the families of children with special healthcare needs, chronic illnesses, or disabilies. We partnered with them this year to host a fun Park Photo Day that was inclusive and responsive to the needs of all families. Photo days invite families and friends to celebrate time outdoors and fosters belonging and ownership for the trail. Attendees also shared feedback on park and trail use and what improvements neighbors would like to see in the future.
MORGAN KOCH– ARTIST AND ADVOCATE FOR INCLUSIVE SPACES BROOKE BR AGGER PHOTOGR APHY
Red Bank resident Morgan Koch, a graphic designer whose work is informed by her daughter’s limited vision, designed the flyer for the Park Photo Day event. Her design helped build community awareness of the effort to connect White Oak Park to Stringer’s Ridge and the event’s purpose of creating belonging for people of all abilities at the park.
Inspired by her visit to the park, she plans to propose an inclusive public art concept for the paved walking paths in the park to the Red Bank City Commission. “My daughter recently started to use a walker in addition to her wheelchair, and I hope to create a high contrast mural that creates a new avenue for her and other kids of differing abilities to engage with the park.”
“The Park Photo Day was the first time my family visited White Oak Park,” she says. “That visit put the park on our family map of places we can access together. Often playgrounds and trails lack the surfaces and design features needed to make the space accessible; wood chips or curbing limit wheelchair access or mobility.”
“Many people think of accessibility as access, but actual accessibility means engaging with space. Many kids can get to a park, but can they play? Accessibility can be an expensive element of a park, but small investments can build up to greater access. If more of us think through the lens of creating spaces that engage, we can advocate and help create more inclusive parks.”
YOUR HEALTHIER CONNECTED CHATTANOOGA
In Chattanooga, trails aren’t just a place to escape; they’re a place for connection. Tucked into the folds of the ridges, valleys, creeks, and rivers that define the city, trails are a town pump for social connection, where you meet new friends and neighbors through the shared joy of time outdoors. Thanks to your generosity, Chattanooga is building a community-informed equitable trail network, connecting diverse neighborhoods to recreation opportunities and the city’s central business district. Over 30,000 people live within walking distance of the South Chickamauga Creek Greenway. For the first time ever in 2021, folks will be able to walk or bike from Camp Jordan to the Tennessee Riverwalk.
The city has completed the multi-use path along Shallowford Road and Caine Lane. Together, The Trust for Public Land and the city are rapidly closing the gap from the Cromwell Hills Apartments to Faith Road, where the greenway currently ends. Nature Bridges, the specialized contractor building the boardwalk and paved trails, has constructed over 5,200 linear feet of the Cromwell Connector + Youngstown Connector. Despite the ongoing pandemic, The Trust for Public Land and the city are finding safe ways to celebrate the completion of the South Chickamauga Creek Greenway. Your support has kept this inspiring project at the forefront for city leaders. We are so grateful that you have continued to carry this vision for a healthier, connected Chattanooga. Bravo!
DOUG STRICKL AND
South Chickamauga Creek Greenway Chattanooga, TN
LINKING SOUTH CHATTANOOGA RESIDENTS TO NEW OPPORTUNITIES
When is a pathway more “ than a simple trail through a community? For residents of Alton Park, the answer lies in where it starts, what it connects to, and how it ends. – Maria Noel
”
In Chattanooga, The Trust for Public Land is linking communities to nature and each other through innovative greenways, paths, and parks. But despite Chattanooga’s renaissance, the city’s historically under-resourced neighborhoods— which are often low-income and communities of color—remain isolated. That’s why we’re partnering with the South Chattanooga neighborhoods to hear and learn from residents how they experience and use public spaces in order to inform needed improvements. With the publication of “The Alton Park Connector: Creating A Pathway to Alton Park’s History, People and Culture” in March, Maria Noel completed the first neighborhood history written by its residents, which is informing the planned trail connection from Alton Park to the Tennessee River Park. Maria’s story beautifully chronicles the complex history of the neighborhood, its legacy of environmental injustice, and inspiring stories of resilience and leadership that are carrying Alton Park forward. Together, we are transforming an abandoned, 100-year old, 1.3-mile rail corridor into the
Alton Park Connector that links Southside Community Park in the Alton Park neighborhood to Tennessee River Park. We are working hard to ensure this complex project is “shovel ready” to compete for future infrastructure funding. With your support, we will keep bringing attention and community insight to Southside Community Park and its importance as a trailhead for the Alton Park Connector. Already, in 2021, we opened an L.L.Bean-funded playground in the park that was designed by local children and youth. Finally, we will work with our community partners to gain public access and design the trail to bridge the Alton Park and Clifton Hills neighborhoods, which are currently separated by the Chattanooga Creek. This trail will provide better access from Alton Park to reach Crabtree Farms, creating more programming opportunities like Net Resource Foundation’s Leadership for Life summer program, where an area of focus for participants was sustainable land stewardship through the lens of Black history and the modern relationship to food. This walk-bike path will complete the Alton Park Connector vision.
We need your help! We need to raise $113,000 to complete design of the Alton Park Connector, discover opportunities for public art and greater depth of engagement for Southside Community Park, and design and secure access to connect Crabtree Farms to Alton Park over Chattanooga Creek.
EXPANDING LOCKELAND SPRINGS PARK ERIN KICE
Lockeland Springs Park
Nashville, TN
In March 2020, a devastating tornado leveled Lockeland Springs Park in East Nashville. Before the destruction, the park was a small forested oasis of spring-fed streams, frequented by families and children from the adjacent elementary school learning about the ecology and history of this refuge. Unfortunately, the tornado severely damaged the park and leveled neighboring homes. The Covid-19 pandemic followed days after the tornado hit. The city locked down. People turned to the outdoors like never before—for a break from the stresses of a quickly changing world. With their park closed indefinitely, East Nashville residents began to venture onto a privately owned five-acre lot adjacent to the park and using this property for neighborhood access to Shelby Park, a large regional park along the Cumberland River. As the city recovered, the community began a massive volunteer effort to restore Lockeland Springs Park, replanting trees and wildflowers.
Soon, they faced a new challenge: the adjacent private land—which had become a natural extension of the park—was sold. The loss of this property to development would forever change the park. It seemed all hope was lost. Luckily, the new buyers are motivated to conserve a majority of the land. To quickly purchase the property, East Nashville residents contacted The Trust for Public Land. With residents, we will triple the size of Lockeland Springs Park and create a more connected East Nashville and a park reflective of this community’s character.
We need your help!
We must raise $1.6 million by December 8, 2021, to purchase the 3.9-acre property. Tripling the size of Lockeland Springs Park will expand opportunities for education, stream restoration, and outdoor experiences.
BACK COVER: LUKE HOLCOMB • FRONT COVER: BROOKE BR AGGER PHOTOGR APHY; DOUG STRICKL AND; DOUG STRICKL AND; DARCY KIEFEL; JOHN DOOLE Y
Thank you for helping improve the health, equity, and climate outcomes for communities in Tennessee and beyond. We couldn’t do this without you.
Join us Help ensure everyone has access to the outdoors. Every park we create, schoolyard we transform, trail we extend, and landscape we protect is thanks to supporters like you.
tpl.org/donate
Noel Durant Tennessee Director of Philanthropy noel.durant@tpl.org | 423.265.5229 P.O. Box 3240 Chattanooga, TN 37404