Montague Park has come full circle.
Given to the city of Chattanooga in 1911 to be developed into a place for people to gather and observe the beauty of nature, a 30-acre tract there was recently dedicated as the Sculpture Fields at Montague Park.
Today, the property off Polk Street at 23rd Street is a veritable art playground, still a place to observe the beauty of nature, and one more unique attraction in what Outside magazine last year dubbed the country’s Best Town.
Its dedication and the opening in the same week of yet another phase of the Riverwalk offer residents two wholly different jewels rarely found in a city the size of Chattanooga.
In the century-and-change between the gifting of Montague Park to the city and its new life as the home of aluminum, steel, granite, concrete and bronze structures of various height, breadth, color and concept, it has lived a varied and not always easy life.