A workshop is planned Thursday and Friday to consider ways to revamp Miller Park and to consider whether the public fountains should be replaced to allow for more public events in the park.Chattanooga's oldest downtown park and the historic site of the old City Market will get a new look over the next couple of years.
Chattanooga downtown boosters want to revamp Miller Park and Patten Parkway to be more pedestrian-friendly and more usable for public events. The city, backed by River City Co. and the Benwood Foundation, has allocated more than $3 million to rebuild the downtown green spaces.
But just exactly how Miller Park and Patten Parkway should be changed depends upon what local residents want. The public can weigh in during three workshops Thursday and Friday.
What do you want for Miller Park?
A New Orleans consulting firm hired by the city to redevelop Miller Park plans three workshops this week in the Waterhouse Pavilion at Miller Plaza to gain public input and ideas for the park’s future:› Thursday, 6-7:30 p.m.› Friday, 8-9:30 a.m.› Friday, 12-1:30 p.m.More information is available online at www.millerparkchattanooga.com.
New Orleans consulting firm Spackman Mossop+Michaels will lead the 90-minute planning and brainstorming sessions in the Waterhouse Pavilion of Miller Plaza on Thursday at 6 p.m. and at 8 a.m. and noon Friday.
The city wants public input to create a new Miller Park District to better connect Miller Park and Miller Plaza and the nearby Patten Parkway - the biggest urban open spaces in what Chattanooga has designated as its Innovation District for startup and tech businesses.
Emily Bullock, an associate at Spackman Mossop+Michaels, said a design team visited Chattanooga for four days in June to talk with local residents and planners at Nightfall, the Public Library, Warehouse Row, Camp House, the Honest Pint and "every route in between."
The eventual design "will enhance the value of these public spaces and create a cultural and social hub for nearby residents, businesses, organizations and visitors," Bullock said in an announcement about this week's meetings.
The parks are in the middle of a downtown construction boom that includes $400 million of apartments, hotels, condos and restaurants either underway or on the drawing boards in and around Chattanooga's downtown.
The City Council voted in June to begin planning to redo Miller Park, which was developed in 1976 as Chattanooga's first downtown park. The park and plaza, developed in the 1980s, are named for Burkett Miller, a former partner in the Miller & Martin law firm who was a staunch advocate of downtown revitalization.
Jenny Park, strategic capital planner for the city, said the project is intended to make the park more inviting and better suited for downtown events. Miller Park is now sometimes occupied by homeless people and its water fountain and pool occupy a lot of space and are costly to maintain.
The renovation of Miller Park is the first phase of the revamp on the downtown parks. Patten Parkway will be studied later, officials said.
The parkway, two blocks to the north, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 and was once home to a thriving hotel, a market house where fresh food was sold and a World War II memorial. The parkway was the site of Chattanooga's first outdoor market in the 1800s.
An Urban Design Challenge in 2012 showcased ideas to make the parkway a more pedestrian-friendly thoroughfare with wider sidewalks, limited car traffic and more residential housing.
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or at 757-6340.