There’s little more than pavement underneath the Olgiati Bridge, but a $10 million commitment will help change that.
The BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Foundation is contributing the funds to establish the BlueCross Healthy Place at Ross’s Landing as part of the planned redevelopment of Chattanooga’s downtown riverfront, officials announced at a Monday press conference. Officials heralded BlueCross’s investment as yet another example of private-public partnership benefiting the community.
The $10 million investment will go toward the redevelopment of some of the riverfront’s features, including the creation of a flexible sports court underneath the Olgiati Bridge, which carries U.S. Highway 27 over the Tennessee River. Additional elements include an accessible play area, improvements to the Chattanooga Pier, shade structures and lighting, according to officials.
(READ MORE: BlueCross to build $4.8M Healthy Place park by Finley Stadium)
“One of the core values of the Riverfront Parks Next project is really looking at this riverfront park as Chattanooga’s front porch,” River City Co. President and CEO Emily Mack said in an interview. “We think about front porches as places where friends and family come together to connect with each other and nature, and that’s really what this project is about.”
The overall redevelopment project spans the length of the riverfront from the Market Street Bridge to the Olgiati Bridge. Among other features, the plan calls for the planting of shade trees, the installation of speed tables to slow traffic on Riverfront Parkway and the softening of the park’s grade for greater accessibility. Two new restaurant spaces are also included in the plan.
The Healthy Place at Ross’s Landing will be the fifth such development in the Chattanooga area, BlueCross Managing Director of Corporate Communications and Community Relations John Hawbaker said in an interview. There are existing Healthy Places in Highland Park and St. Elmo, while Healthy Places at the Chattanooga Airport and Pavilion Park are in the works. There are 31 Healthy Places open or under construction across the state, according to numbers provided by BlueCross.
(READ MORE: Aviation-themed play space to open at Chattanooga Airport)
“I have so many great memories of my own kids coming out here, enjoying this space,” Hawbaker said of the riverfront. “And we’re building something for the next generation that’s really going to mean a lot to the people that live here in Chattanooga.”
Through community input, River City Co. learned that residents do not always want to spend time at the riverfront park because it lacks comfort. The redevelopment aims to make the riverfront a space that residents will use on a more daily basis.
“I do look at it from the perspective of a parent,” Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp, a father of five children, said in his remarks at Monday’s press conference. “I think without us meaning to, the Chattanooga riverfront became a place where a lot of families come once a year. And when we’re done with it, I think it’s going to be a place that we come once a week.”
The riverfront redevelopment is supported by $25 million in public funds, with the state contributing $15 million and Chattanooga and Hamilton County contributing $5 million each. River City Co. publicly launched a campaign in June to raise $25 million from the private sector to support the completion of the redevelopment and establish a maintenance fund for the park.
The riverfront redevelopment is on-schedule and on-budget, Mack said. Construction is set to begin in November, following this year’s Head of the Hooch rowing regatta. Mack said construction is expected to last 18 months, reopening in time for Ironman and other summer events.
Contact outdoors reporter Sam Still at sstill@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6579.
