Hamilton County Parks and Recreation Director Tom Lamb speaks during a public meeting at Springhill Suites on Monday, June 24, 2019 in Chattanooga, Tenn. The meeting was held to discuss Hamilton County swapping land at the former Alstom site with new developers.Hamilton County purchased land at the former Alstom site in 2013 to extend the Tennessee Riverwalk from downtown Chattanooga to St. Elmo Avenue. Now, new developers in the area want about three acres back and have agreed to a land swap with the county that will add to the multi-use trail system.
The developers will leave the existing riverwalk in place but wanted to use the rest of the land to create a riverfront park for a major new downtown development area in the city’s west end. County leaders will use their new land to create a trailhead that connects to the system and includes parking. The trailhead will be along a future Main Street extension.
“The bottom line from Hamilton County’s perspective is we have a long strip that was acquired, and the only plan was to put the riverwalk through there. The riverwalk has been built, so there are not further investment plans for that property,” Hamilton County Parks and Recreation Director Tom Lamb said. “What we stand to gain with this conversion is an additional amenity with a connection to the riverwalk that we would not have had otherwise. So in my opinion, this is a win-win.”
The land being exchanged is where the riverwalk cuts through the former Alstom site along the Tennessee River. It is about a quarter-mile south of the Blue Goose Trailhead at Canal Street and West 9th Avenue.
The west side of the property – which was bought by the county with a Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation grant – will go to the developers. An adjacent lot on the east side of the multi-use path will go to the county. The TDOC grant required the land to remain public in perpetuity. If not, the county was required to convert a parcel of equal value to public use.