Public input session set for Tuesday on improvement plan for Booker T. Washington State Park

If you’re a fan of Chattanooga’s Booker T. Washington State Park, how would you like to stay a weekend there in a glamping tree house or cabin or invite friends and family to a celebration in a new event space?

Anyone who likes those ideas or has better ones should attend a public input session set for Tuesday at the park to discuss plans for its future, which could include a new visitors center, upgraded equipment, self-guided tours, new overnight digs in the form of cabins and tree houses, and a lodge for recreational activities.

A public meeting was originally set for Nov. 13, but state officials thought that was too little notice, according to Jennifer Donnals, spokesperson for the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, the parent agency for state parks.

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“We rescheduled the meeting to give us more time to promote it and encourage citizens to attend,” Donnals said in an email. “We realized we just hosted a public meeting for the park in October and thought spacing them out a little further would encourage more people to attend.”

HISTORIC PARK

Booker T. Washington State Park was one of Tennessee’s first state parks, according to state park histories. The site where the park was constructed was leased by the state from the Tennessee Valley Authority in 1938. The plot contained about 350 acres north of Chattanooga on Chickamauga Lake.

In June 1939, the Civilian Conservation Corps associated with TVA was hired to construct a recreational park along the lakefront of Chickamauga Lake, according to state historical accounts. The park was purchased in July 1954 from TVA for $1 for the sole purpose of recreation.

In the days of racial segregation, facilities were to be administered separately, so Booker T. Washington State Park was set aside for Hamilton County’s Black community. The park was one of two state parks open to Black Tennesseans before the park system’s desegregation in 1962. The other was T.O. Fuller State Park in Memphis.

In the 1950s and 1960s, state parks systems across the U.S. were criticized for their role in segregation, according to officials. But in 1961, a community group organized an integrated picnic at Big Ridge State Park in Maynardville, Tennessee, on Memorial Day weekend. In 1962, then-Tennessee Gov. Buford Ellington quietly directed park staff to end segregation at all the state’s parks.

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Public input session set for Tuesday on improvement plan for Booker T. Washington State Park

Over the years, the park’s facilities deteriorated and became outdated, offering a chance for redesign and innovation, teamed with public participation, as future updates are planned. Donnals in November said plans for the event center “were well received by community members and the Friends of Booker T. Washington State Park” at a recent public meeting.

Friends group members didn’t immediately respond to a social media message or an email sent to the group seeking comment on the upcoming meeting and proposals for the park.

The next steps will be guided by comments from the upcoming meeting, officials said.

FUTURE PLANS

Booker T. Washington State Park is already in line for major improvements, including a nearly $10 million event center and new playground, Donnals said. The General Assembly appropriated $9.9 million for the event center and a new playground, approved by the State Building Commission.

Officials are seeking input on Booker T. Washington State Park and 13 other state parks through public input sessions and submitted comments, according to officials. The proposed plan for each of the 14 parks is part of a 10-year plan that guides the operations of all 62 state parks, and each of the 14 parks’ plans must be reviewed and updated within that period.

Key components of the plans for each park focus on the four cornerstones of park management, according to state parks officials: resource stewardship, visitor experience, facilities and amenities, and operational excellence.

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“Public input is vital to the continued success of our state parks,” Greer Tidwell, deputy commissioner of Environment and Conservation’s Bureau of Conservation, said in a November press release on the public input sessions. “These meetings are a fun opportunity for Tennesseans to help shape the future of our state parks and fulfill our mission to preserve, protect and share Tennessee’s natural and cultural resources while providing safe and quality outdoor experiences.”

The public input sessions kicked off Nov. 10 with Cove Lake State Park in Campbell County, with other public meetings set for Big Ridge State Park in Union County, Lamar Alexander Rocky Fork State Park in Unicoi County, Bledsoe Creek State Park in Sumner County, Cumberland Mountain State Park in Cumberland County, David Crockett State Park in Lawrence County, Big Hill Pond State Park in McNairy County, Harpeth River State Park in Cheatham and Davidson counties, Montgomery Bell State Park in Dickson County and Burgess Falls State in Park in Putnam and White counties.

A meeting was held Jan. 8 at North Chickamauga Creek Gorge State Park, the state’s newest park, and there is still plenty of time to send in submitted comments on plans there.

Comments will be accepted on all 14 parks through Jan. 31 in an online survey or by mail. The Comprehensive Strategic Plan, the individual park plan updates and the meeting schedule can be viewed by visiting the Bureau of Conservation, Planning and Publication page. For comments, go to the Tennessee State Parks Comment Card for Park Strategic Management Plans.

Contact Southeast Tennessee reporter Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569.