On April 17, Chattanooga Parks and Outdoors–along with District 8 City Councilwoman Marvene Noel and Public Works and Playcore representatives–broke ground on the future Lynnbrook Park.
Chattanooga’s newest 1.4-acre park will stretch along the 1500 block of Lynnbrook Avenue from East Main Street to 17th Street. It will have a walking path, a pedestrian bridge, a gazebo, a playground, an open lawn area and on-street parking.
“It is already city-owned, and it was just sitting here as it was turning into a junkyard,” noted Akosua Cook, a park planner at Chattanooga Parks and Outdoors. “We were just storing old equipment on it. We wanted to bring it into a functional use that will one day beautify and connect this community.”
The now-vacant site will be the location of both a stream restoration project and a linear park. This is Chattanooga’s first park project identified through the Climate-Smart Cities decision support tool. The plan uses park, transportation, health and environmental data to target park investments where they will have the greatest impact.
Redevelopment of this site into a public park will contribute to the revitalization and empowerment of the Oak Grove neighborhood, which has experienced flooding issues, and is denser and more diverse than the city as a whole. It would also transfer an underutilized area into an asset that improves water quality.
The site of the future park was the recipient of the National Recreation and Parks Association (NRPA) Parks Build Award in 2021, which is a series of donated items with a total value of almost $300K.
Lynnbrook Park, which is expected to open in August 2024, will provide access to approximately 3,000 people within a 10-minute walk. The project is part of a larger effort by the city to ensure all residents live near a neighborhood park.