For the second year in a row, a July 16 run/walk event will be held to commemorate the anniversary of the fatal shootings of five servicemen in Chattanooga.
This year's event will help fund the construction of a permanent memorial at the Tennessee Riverpark.
The Chattanooga Heroes Run raised $15,000 for the installation, but the event's organizers have made a few changes they hope will help raise even more, the most notable being that it will be held on the Riverpark instead of Amnicola Highway.
"This year we are looking forward to another successful year," Erlanger CEO Kevin Spiegel said at a news conference Monday afternoon. The event is presented by Erlanger's Level One Trauma Center.
Heroes Run
When: Saturday, July 15Race begins 8 a.m.1-mile kids run 10 a.m.Location: Tennessee RiverparkCost: Online registration for 5-mile walk/run — $35Onsite registration (opens at 6 a.m.) — $40Kids run — $15
Participants will begin the 5-mile course at the Naval Operational Support Center and Marine Corps Reserve Center and walk by the location on the Riverpark reserved for the eventual memorial before ending at the Hubert Fry Center.
More changes will include a "stroller corral" at the starting area for those who wish to bring young children, a 1-mile kids run and a block party hosted by Rock Creek with food trucks and vendors.
During Monday's news conference, public officials said the event and the memorial it will help produce are intended to mark the tragedy in a tangible way and continue supporting the victims' families.
"I don't believe that we've ever seen the outpouring of support we saw in the aftermath of that event," Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger said. "It's exactly what this community is all about."
He thanked military members as well as the authorities who responded to the shooting, saying they demonstrated why they train so diligently for the unimaginable.
"We hope you never need them, but when you do, they're prepared for these incidents," he said.
It is unclear what the Riverpark memorial will look like or who will design it, but Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke said a nationwide request for proposals had been sent out to net a variety of American artists and designers.
"That has elicited an amazing response," he said. "Fifty-five artists responded."
Of those 55, three will be selected by a committee later this week to visit the location and submit design proposals.
"This is going to be a tremendous asset for our community," Berke said. "I know that we'll end up with something we can all be proud of."
Katelyn Kirnie, the city's director for public art in Chattanooga, said she and the rest of the committee will be looking at the artists' past work to decide who the final contenders will be for what is estimated to be a $750,000 installation, paid for by the city and county.
"That will kind of fluctuate depending on what the proposal is," Kirnie said. "Hopefully not above that."
Everyone from bronze sculptors to designers of contemporary, abstract spaces are in the running, so Kirnie couldn't speak to what she imagines the installation will finally look like by its hoped-for completion date of July 16, 2019.
"It's a broad range of styles and backgrounds," she said.
Volunteers or participants can visit chattanoogaheroesrun.com for more information. Online registration for the event is $35 and onsite registration is $40. The 1-mile kids run registration cost is $15.
Contact staff writer Emmett Gienapp at egienapp@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6731. Follow him on Twitter @emmettgienapp.
