After years of deliberation about what Hamilton County should do with McDonald Farm, officials have landed on an answer: turn much of its acreage into a state park.
The park will encompass about 1,300 acres of the historic Sale Creek farm, once owned by the family of the late Roy McDonald, longtime publisher of the Chattanooga Free Press. About $45.3 million in the next state budget is earmarked by Gov. Bill Lee to develop and maintain the park, according to state officials.
No designation has been announced, but nearby natural features that could lend their name to the park include Wildcat Hollow, Brayton Mountain, Roaring Creek and McGill Gulf.
The park will act as a hub for the southern portion of the Cumberland Trail, said Brian Clifford, deputy commissioner for the Tennessee Bureau of Conservation. During a press conference, he said the park would bring $11 million of annual economic benefit to the area and create 70 jobs in and around the park.
He and other Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation officials, plus Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp, state Sen. Bo Watson, R-North Chattanooga, state Rep. Michele Reneau, R-Hixson, and County Commissioner Gene-o Shipley, R-Soddy-Daisy, announced the park plans during a Friday press conference.