(Editor’s note: Second of two parts)
Several attempts were made over the last century to set aside a park at Moccasin Bend. A 1944 Chattanooga Times editorial affirmed that a park on the Bend could be as great an asset as Central Park for New York City: “Hyde Park for London, the Champs Elysees for Paris, the Prater for Vienna, the Cascine for Florence, the Corso for Rome, or the Prado for Madrid.”
Two attempts were made over the last several decades to establish a national park there. In 1950, Congressman J.B. Frazier successfully sponsored legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives authorizing the addition of up to 1,400 acres at Moccasin Bend to the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park. But in January 1953, Gov. Frank Clement refused to allocate the necessary $100,000 to implement the park, and the initiative failed.
In the late 1950s, various community leaders came to agree that the Bend should be kept for public use, and Dr. Joe Johnson led an effort to construct a state mental health hospital on the toe of the Bend. In 1965, 180 acres were leased for the popular Moccasin Bend public golf course.
In 1982, the city and the county again focused on the uniqueness of the peninsula and authorized the Moccasin Bend Task Force to study the best uses of the undeveloped acreage on the Bend. Its members included Sally Robinson, Jack McDonald, Rick Montague, Paul Nolan and Bob Mayville. The group made no final decision about the Bend but went onto make recommendations that led to several highly successful public/private projects, including the Tennessee Aquarium, Coolidge Park, Ross’s Landing and the Passage.