This stone archway in the Lincoln Park neighborhood was built for the park's opening in 1918.The state will investigate whether Mayor Andy Berke's office violated Lincoln Park neighborhood residents' civil rights in an ongoing dispute over a multimillion-dollar road project downtown.
The Tennessee Human Rights Commission confirmed in a letter that after reviewing the historic black neighborhood's concerns, officials decided to conduct a joint investigation with the Tennessee Department of Transportation to make sure Chattanooga was complying with civil rights laws.
The Lincoln Park community alleges its rights were violated when city officials decided to use $5.9 million in federal highway funds to extend Central Avenue through their community and city officials made decisions without involving the neighborhood, discriminating against the community. They also claim they were intimidated by the mayor's office and told not to go to the media with their complaints.
As a result, Tiffany Rankins, secretary of the Lincoln Park Neighborhood Association, said the neighborhood is opposed to the Central Avenue extension and wants the state to stop the project from going forward.
The mayor's office argues that it has included the neighborhood in each step of the process.
"We're going above and beyond for projects of this type," said Tyler Yount, who works in the mayor's office. "Ideally what they want is for us not to build a road at all. We've scaled [the project] back considerably and adjusted it several times ... to meet their concerns."
The dispute also stems from the now-dilapidated land next to Lincoln Park that was once an amusement park, a zoo, a swimming pool and the home of Negro League baseball games where players such as Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays and Satchel Paige played.
Last summer, Berke promised the community that he would restore the park and the road project wouldn't cut through their land. But 14 months later, the city has yet to acquire the land from Erlanger hospital.
Stacy Richardson, the mayor's senior adviser, said the city is on track to swap land with Erlanger after the beginning of the year once the environmental impact road study is complete.
"We are currently on track with our original schedule," Richardson said Monday.
But the neighborhood residents' most recent complaint is that they weren't included in the environmental impact study related to whether their park meets federal guidelines to be registered as historic. Historic status for the park could ensure its preservation in the future.
When the neighborhood leaders asked to see a copy of the draft report that concluded the park didn't meet the guidelines, they were denied their request.
"Lincoln Park's ineligibility [as a historic park] conveniently destroys degrees of protection from the historic property and allows the City to bypass very real political, bureaucratic and legal conflicts and access federal funds," states the complaint to the Human Rights Commission.
But Yount said the city held a meeting with the community to explain the report findings, and he now plans to get the neighborhood leaders a copy of the draft report. Rankins said this was news to her.
Lincoln Park originally filed a civil rights complaint with the city, but the city's compliance officer found no wrongdoing. The Human Rights Commission now will investigate their claim, but state officials weren't available Monday afternoon to comment.
Contact staff writer Joy Lukachick Smith at jsmith@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6659.