The 1985 Tennessee Riverpark Master Plan called for $750 million in new development along the river and conservation of 22 miles of its corridor.
called for $750 million in new development along the river and conservation of 22 miles of river corridor through Chattanooga. Today the riverfront features an aquarium, a children’s
discovery museum, a visitor center, an IMAX 3D theater, and a conference center, which in turn have attracted more than 100 new shops, hotels, and restaurants, along with a flurry of private investment. Threading through it all, the ten-mile riverbank greenway connects areas as disparate as downtown’s Coolidge Park, popular for outdoor concerts and its century-old restored carousel; Renaissance Park, a 23-acre urban wetland; Ross’s Landing, site of the original Cherokee trading post around which the city was founded
and home since 1992 of the Tennessee Aquarium; and the Chickamauga Dam, a power generation facility operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority. On Wood’s map, green dots of completed Riverpark
march along both banks of the river downtown, connecting over the historic Walnut Street Bridge. Built in 1890 and closed to traffic in 1978, the bridge was almost torn down before the city made it part of the greenway system. At nearly a half-mile long, it is one of the longest pedestrian bridges in the world. At the south end of the bridge, a four-foot-tall bronze sculpture of a Great Dane, forepaw raised in greeting, welcomes a steady parade of strollers, dog walkers, joggers, and cyclists. The Riverpark, with its openness, its whimsical mile-marker sculptures, its abundance of picnic areas and countless other people- friendly amenities, imparts an almost European feel. It has clearly become part of the fabric of the city. At the city’s request, TPL also is working to extend greenways from the Riverpark along tributary streams
Built with help from The Trust for Public Land, the Riverpark now stretches for ten miles along the Tennessee River. Connecting greenways will run along tributary streams.