CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – During the early stages of trying to get a Pat Head Summitt memorial funded, Pat Head Summitt Project Committee chairman Richard Stevens found a little extra incentive through the concerns of longtime area coach and Clarksville High School teacher Pam Whitfield.
“When I was talking to her about the project she said ‘it really just breaks my heart that these ninth grade girls who are coming through Clarksville High, they don’t know anything about Pat Summitt,'” said Stevens, who was previously the news director and general manager at The Leaf-Chronicle.
Now those students and the children that follow will soon have a place in the city to learn about a hometown hero and leader in women’s sports.
At 10 a.m. on Thursday, Clarksville Mayor Kim McMillan, the Pat Head Summitt Project Committee and other civic leaders gathered to announce the new location at Liberty Park and more detailed elements of the project that was started four years as a Leaf Chronicle spearheaded project, on what McMillan had declared as Pat Head Summitt Day in Clarksville.
“Pat Summitt’s contributions far exceed the basketball courts on which she played and coached,” said McMillan in a provided statement. ” . I’m excited that we have a plan that will allow us to move forward quickly with the installation of the statue here and continue to build this plaza in Pat’s honor over the next few years.”