Booker T. Washington State Park in Chattanooga has won an Excellence in Innovation award from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.
"Booker T. Washington State Park puts good ideas to work in ways that make the experience for visitors more enjoyable," Greer Tidwell, the department's deputy commissioner of conservation, said in a news release. "We are proud of the team at the park, and we are pleased to honor it with this award."
The department, which runs Tennessee's 57 state parks, presents the awards annually. Its innovation category of the awards is for parks where leaders have demonstrated an ability to "think creatively to enhance or improve" their parks. The innovative project must be long-lasting or far reaching.
Booker T. Washington State Park updated old metal signs with limited information to visually appealing signs made of reclaimed wood from the park. The signs were engraved with QR codes to allow guests to use cellphones, tablets and other devices to access additional information.
(READ MORE: Gov. Lee tours Booker T. Washington park ahead of trail opening, renovations)
Under park manager Levan Gardner, Booker T. Washington is also using aerial drone photography and videos of the park to develop content for social media platforms and email links to share with guests to provide a virtual tour of the park.
The 353-acre park is on the shores of Chickamauga Lake. Opened in 1950, Booker T. Washington State Park was one of only two state parks open to Black Tennesseans before the park system's desegregation in 1962. It was named after one of the most famous leaders in the African American community in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation also announced awards in the following categories:
— State park of the year: Seven Islands State Birding Park in Knox County.
— State park for customer engagement and resource management: Pickett Civilian Conservation Corps Memorial State Park in Fentress County.
— Interpretation: Radnor Lake State Park in Nashville.
— Sustainability practices: Johnsonville State Historic Park in Humphries County.
— Compiled by Andy Sher