A major renovation project at East Lake Park is now complete. The city of Chattanooga and East Lake Neighborhood Association are marking the long-awaited occasion with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Saturday at 10 a.m.
"It's the heart of our community," said Jazmine LeBlanc, vice president of the East Lake Neighborhood Association, of the 18.5-acre park. "It was a much-needed overhaul of the space."
East Lake Park has been many things in its 124 years: a zoo, an urban fishing hole, a home to swans and ducks and a gathering spot for the neighborhood's residents.
But without any improvements since the 1990s, in recent years the 1.75-acre pond that serves as the park's centerpiece had become unhealthy and covered with an abundance of algae.
Water quality was the focus of the city's renovation project at the park, which is Chattanooga's oldest.
The project began in 2017 with a design phase incorporating input from the community.
Work at the park began in April 2019 and included draining and dredging of the pond's sediment buildup and installing new water treatment control measures in and around the pond, city spokeswoman Richel Albright said.
If you go:
East Lake Park is at 3000 E. 34th St.
Staff photo by Emily Crisman / Lighted boardwalks allow visitors to walk over a portion of the pond at the newly renovated East Lake Park.Other improvements to the park include new lighting, more parking, a boardwalk over a portion of the pond, modernized walkways and a new playground area.
Fish structures and spawning beds were installed in the pond to establish a sustainable warm-water fish community that will persist into the future, according to Albright.
The overall cost of the project was $2.9 million. Most of the funding was covered by the city, aside from a $200,000 grant from Lyndhurst Foundation and a $150,000 grant from Tennessee American Water, she said.
Major upgrades to the park are complete, but officials will return in the spring to plant greenery and flowers and to stock the pond with native fish. Fishing eventually should be allowed at the park, Albright said, though current city codes do not allow it.
"We have been waiting on this for a long time," said Linda Richardson, president of the East Lake Neighborhood Association and a neighborhood resident of nearly 37 years. "When they revamped it this time, it has a different feel to it. It has a calming effect."
Some of that calm is because of the changes in the playground, where she was accustomed to the sounds of children laughing and playing on the swings. The old playground, which was located in a floodway and getting older, was replaced by a nature-based playground with rock features that is located in a different part of the park.
LeBlanc said she's particularly excited that the park is reopening in time to host the East Lake Book Fiesta, the group's biggest event of the year, which could not be held at the park last year because it was closed for renovations. The event brings children's books to life through art, she said, and organizers give away 1,600-2,000 children's picture books to attendees each year.
The 2020 East Lake Book Fiesta is scheduled for April 18 from 1-4 p.m.
Contact Emily Crisman at ecrisman@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6508.
