Hamilton County is in the midst of creating a master plan for its parks system, marking the first comprehensive overview as leaders look to get increased public input and open more funding opportunities to plan for the future of public space in the Chattanooga area.
The plan will be conducted by an out-of-state company with input from area residents to determine how to best manage the park system. It will decide how funding should be used, where future projects should be conducted, the state of current equipment, where repairs are needed and give parks leaders a full inventory of park equipment.
“We are creating a road map for the future of Hamilton County Parks and Recreation,” parks Director Tom Lamb said. “It is based on a tremendous amount of public input, community preference as well as market trends and what all we have in place now to help us make some allocations for the future and provide us with a way to move forward and meet the community needs.”
The county’s parks and recreation department oversees three regional parks, 16 community parks and partners with athletic leagues at seven of those parks. It also maintains other community spaces.
There have been vast changes in how people use public spaces in the county during the past decade, Lamb said, pointing to the growth in popularity of disc golf, dog parks, open-water swimming, the resurgence of camping and the addition of large outdoor events. The plan will look at those changes and determine the best way to use parks in the coming years.