The Southside’s old U.S. Pipe and Wheland Foundry sites are ripe for development.Chattanooga’s Southside is the city’s new hot spot – like North Chattanooga and the 21st Century Waterfront on the Tennessee River before it.
If you haven’t seen Southside recently, you should drive through. The neighborhood’s new and renovated homes and condos are top notch. Its Battle Academy elementary school is inviting. The new sidewalk art and quirky businesses on Main Street are energizing.
Now, a plan for the first commercial project in the largest undeveloped tract in Southside should really push the reincarnation of a long neglected section of Chattanooga where Wheland Foundry and U.S. Pipe once operated on a 141-acre parcel fronting South Broad Street near 28th Street.
Soon, an 80-year-old, 40,000 square-foot brick building on 2 acres of the foundry site will be remodeled into new offices, retail developments and possibly a restaurant.
It’s a great idea, and there are plenty of examples of similar successful efforts around Chattanooga. In fact, much of downtown Chattanooga is recycled 19th and 20th century buildings: Jack’s Alley, the Sports Barn, Big River Grill, Warehouse Row. On the North Shore, there’s the Knitting Mill, a very fun antiques store in what once was a textile factory where many a Chattanooga seamstress made pajamas with feet, among other things.