Hamilton County commission approves grant application for Alton Park playground

Hamilton County commissioners voted unanimously Thursday to apply for a grant of up to $200,000 to clean up the site of the old Charles A. Bell Elementary School in Alton Park and build a playground there.

"This piece of property has long been abandoned by the school system and is a real nuisance in the community and also has some environmental problems," said Jeannine Alday, County Mayor Claude Ramsey's chief of staff. "This will address the environmental problems and demolish the building."

Felice Haire, Alton Park Development Corp. community outreach specialist, said her organization has expressed support for the playground project.

"It's something that's needed," she said.

But they also have some reservations about whether contamination on the site will be eliminated fully, Ms. Haire said.

Milton Jackson, a longtime resident of Alton Park, has said workers will have to dig deep to remove all the contaminants.

In October, the Chattanooga City Council voted to turn over the school property to Hamilton County so the county could apply for a brownfield grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The commission on Thursday also voted to accept the 10 acres or so of land from the city.

The county will keep the property until the cleanup is completed, but it then will turn it back over to the city, Ms. Alday said.

"They will operate and maintain this park," she said.

BELL SCHOOL HISTORY

* 1960: School opens.

* 1990: School closes.

* 1997-1999: Residents try to transform school into community center, abandon effort because cleanup would be too costly.

* 2008: Chattanooga hands over property to Hamilton County to apply for EPA cleanup grant.