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.