NASHVILLE — Hamilton County’s state legislative delegation has unanimously endorsed a proposal to rebuild the Moccasin Bend Mental Health Institute on a portion of the 62-year-old, state-owned facility’s existing property.
The proposal would leave the new facility and surrounding property with a much smaller footprint of 13 acres under the proposal, although that could be expanded depending on state needs. The state owns an estimated 90 acres on the historically and culturally significant Moccasin Bend peninsula.
Preservationist and historical groups as well as Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly‘s administration and others have advocated for the state to move the institute entirely off the bend, incorporating the state-owned property into the U.S. National Park Service’s Moccasin Bend National Archeological District.
Earlier, Gov. Bill Lee’s administration was proceeding with plans to use state-owned property, first announcing that in 2021, looking at an estimated $265 million facility on Moccasin Bend.
But the state has also been considering other potential sites in other parts of Southeast Tennessee. Local lawmakers as well as others are keen to keep the hospital close by.