City of Chattanooga Parks and Recreation Administrator Larry Zehnder is inviting the public to a community forum at Hixson United Methodist Church Oct. 21 at 7 p.m. to discuss the future new park and community center at the old Hixson Middle School. Representatives from Chattanooga Parks and Recreation Department, Franklin Architects, and Barge, Waggoner, Sumner and Cannon will be on hand to present project proposals at the forum – the first of many more to come.
“This meeting will offer the Hixson community the chance to meet and communicate with city officials and project designers, gain an understanding of the site analysis, planning process and potential uses for the facilities, and provide the opportunity to give the city valuable input,” city of Chattanooga communications manager Rhonda Seeber said in a press release. “One of the key goals of the brainstorming and idea-sharing session is to determine the communities’ view of what a community center is and what types of programs should be offered.”
Zehnder said citizen input could move the community center up on the city’s priority list.
“It is a really important meeting for the Hixson community,” he said. “We have a tremendous opportunity to reuse the old Hixson Middle School. We want to use it as a community spot for the entire area to have meetings.”
He said the city already has plans to reserve a spot in the community center for adult education.
“When the school board turned over the property to the city, they wanted to reserve the right to have an adult education area in the building,” Zehnder said. “The city decided if we are building the community center, then we could do the adult education there.”
Zehnder said he also envisions the potential to host basketball leagues, classes in pottery, quilting and dance and a public library at the center, but the citizens will ultimately decide what the center will become.
“We encourage citizens of all ages and interests to attend this meeting,” he said. “As we facilitate these open forums, we hope the community will think outside the box and envision the old school as a multi-faceted community center that can serve a wide variety of recreational needs and interests.”
Zehnder said the process for developing the community center is in planning mode and might be delayed due to funding. If the city is unable to come up with funding, then the building will be boarded to save it until funding is granted.