That Chattanooga is a fitting home for a heritage center honoring Medal of Honor recipients has never been the question.
It is the city, after all, central to the awarding of the first medals during the Civil War, the place where four of the original recipients honored for their part in the Great Locomotive Chase are buried, the area where 33 Medals of Honor were awarded (including the only woman ever honored, Dr. Mary Walker) and the region where such honored soldiers as Desmond Doss – who we errantly tabbed as serving in the Korean War rather than World War II in a recent editorial – and Charles Coolidge lived or live.
For many years, though, the center has not had a proper place in which to live, expand and show its collection.
Center supporters now believe they do – in the heart of Chattanooga’s downtown tourist district.
On Thursday, officials with the Charles H. Coolidge Medal of Honor Heritage Center said they have signed a letter of intent with the River City Co. to design its new space in the former Visitors Center building on the Tennessee Aquarium Plaza.
Should center officials reach their fundraising benchmarks, on which the letter of intent is contingent, the center – now crowded into a corridor at Northgate Mall – could begin construction in early 2019 and open in February 2020.
A year ago, heritage center backers thought they had a perfectly appropriate spot just across the Tennessee River in Coolidge Park, which is named for the aforementioned 96-year-old Medal of Honor recipient and Signal Mountain resident.
A tiny corner of the park was picked for the building, its beautiful design was stately but in keeping with the landscape architecture of the area, and it had wide public support.
On Aug. 30, after public input and endowment promises to ensure sustainability, heritage center officials announced that final recommendations would be made to Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke and the City Council after a 60-day study. But the study went beyond 60 days and, eventually, more options for locations were put on the table.
The Aquarium Plaza building, not available when center officials first began to consider Coolidge Park, became one of those options.
It once was going to be the home of the Chattanooga History Center, which raised millions of dollars in support but never opened. Much of the history center’s artifacts sadly are now scattered among the Chattanooga Public Library, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and local warehouses.
We hope the two-story, 19,000-square-foot building – on a plaza that draws more than 900,000 visitors annually – has now found a proper tenant in the Medal of Honor Heritage Center.
The riverfront area, steps away from the aquarium, hotels and restaurants, could not be a more traveled tourist spot, and another attraction would be an additional economic boon for the city. In addition, the proposed center ideally would tie in with the area’s Civil War past, piquing the interest of visitors to stay and check out more history on Lookout Mountain or Missionary Ridge or in Chickamauga, Ga.
We believe it is prudent of River City Co. to insist upon two benchmarks being met before a long-term lease is signed. One requires the center to raise $1 million before the end of 2017, and the other requires a cumulative $3 million to be raised by the end of 2018.
Nearly half the amount of the first benchmark already has been raised, and center officials hope to solicit the remainder from the veterans community. Local veterans, generally, and Chattanooga, specifically, have been supportive of military causes, so we hope center officials will have no trouble reaching their fundraising goals.
A year ago, heritage center officials similarly attempted to show the seriousness of their business plan by securing a $2 million endowment before any work would be started.
An architect’s rendering of the potential floor plan shows areas around the center’s outer walls for immersive, multisensory experiences depicting the Civil War, Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War and Gulf wars. Between the themed areas is a monument exhibit. Elsewhere in the space are a Hall of Heroes, two theaters, and two large areas for traveling exhibits and events.
Through it all, heritage center officials plan to highlight the acts of valor shown by Medal of Honor recipients, portray the character traits of citizenship, commitment, courage, integrity, patriotism and sacrifice that recipients share, and inspire others to be empowered to reach those ideals.
With those lofty goals, we hope this iteration of the Charles H. Coolidge Medal of Honor Heritage Center receives local backing, is built and becomes another jewel in Chattanooga’s now flourishing downtown renaissance.